


Three Days to Freedom

by D0ubleFelix



Series: 3DTF Series [1]
Category: Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings, Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, Mother 3
Genre: Acceptance, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Betrayal, Bigotry & Prejudice, Family Issues, Magic, Self-Discovery, Self-Hatred, Starting Over, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 01:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 75,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14864141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D0ubleFelix/pseuds/D0ubleFelix
Summary: A life changing discovery leads to Lucas being chased out of Tazmily by the people he once called family. Now left in the forest with a strange boy named Ness, a confusing set of powers, and three days to travel to a place he will live safely from oppression, he begins to debate whether the practice of Psionics really is a freak of nature, as he'd been taught, or a wonder of it.





	1. Phantasmagorical

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that popped into my head when I thought, "What would happen if I became something that I was taught to hate"? This story deals with themes like oppression and self hatred, so if those things may bother you, please be safe while reading.

Long ago, humans and Psychics were at war.

Psychics were seen as monsters, not people, who went against the 'norm' of society. With their psionic powers and paranormal abilities, called 'PSI', they were considered highly dangerous to 'normal' people. A way to stop them had to be found. Humans had discovered a weakness that also happened to be the source of the powers in the first place; the mind. The less concentrated a Psychic was, the harder it was to control their PSI. Human scientists joined together to develop a way to intercept the mind of a Psychic, eventually discovering that electromagnetic radiation could be used to interfere with the mind of a Psychic, and even stun them if powerful enough. The technique was instantly accepted worldwide, and was put to instant use. Psychics were apprehended and imprisoned.

Humans were unstoppable.

That was, until one Psychic discovered teleportation. She found out that if given enough concentration and determination, if you were to focus on a specific spot, you could zap yourself into a new location in an instant. Using her new discovery, she practiced by teleporting from one side of the yard to the other, moving on to across entire fields, moving to halfway across the town. She could only do it at night, as that was when everyone was asleep, and she'd have a lower chance of being caught. One particular night, she managed to zap herself to the outskirts of the town. She knew that this was her chance to escape.

Using telepathic communication and whispers down the grapevine, Psychics from all over the world passed on this new information. The humans didn't even notice. Within three months of this discovery, human villages would wake up to find every Psychic gone. Little did they know, the population of free Psychics had begun to grow again. The Psychics decided that enough was enough; they had to take action.

Thus, war was declared.

The battle of humans against Psychics raged on for years. Blood was shed, lives were lost, families were broken, but on February 2nd, 1534, the leaders of the two teams signed a treaty. The treaty stated that as long as Psychics and humans were divided on separate boundaries, Psychics would no longer be persecuted. With that, Psychics built villages and settled, finally free from their enemy.

However, what the treaty didn't do was protect them from harm. If a Psychic was ever discovered by humans, that Psychic would suffer a grizzly fate.

Sure, the war had ended.

But Psychics and humans still remained rivals for centuries to come.

* * *

Tazmily Village (Also called 'Dragonstep Village' by neighboring towns) was a rustic but hearty town just near the vast plateaus that swept across Nowhere Islands. Though the town was small, it was filled to the brim with cheerful villagers who all knew each other. Every morning, they'd awaken and go about their day like clockwork. Through rain and snow, thick and thin, the village would thrive on like any other would.

On a steep hill which led to a cliff by the seemingly endless sea, there sat a small log cabin. It was a simple house with and basement, one floor, and one room, and it housed one family. A broken family, but still a family.

A young man sat near the small cluster of forest just nearby the home. Sitting with his knees hugged to his chest, he dragged a twig around in the dirt at the base of a tree. His pale blond hair ruffled in the wind, and his icy blue eyes focused on the ground below him. His name was Lucas.

Lucas wasn't a very talkative boy. While the other ten-year-olds would be out and about with each other, causing havoc and what not, Lucas could be found often wandering by himself. He never really left the safety of the hill. Sure, he had friends, but he never really talked to them that much. One would think he was lonely and sad, but Lucas enjoyed his own company. It gave him time to reflect on how he felt.

The only person Lucas often looked forward to seeing was his twin brother, Claus.

Claus was the sun to Lucas' moon, the dog to his cat, the yin to his yang. This meaning that although they were opposites, they belonged with each other. They were as close as two twins could be, despite their obvious differences. While Lucas was shy and reserved, Claus was outgoing and extroverted. While Lucas found it difficult to even talk to someone, Claus would start a conversation with a stranger if he wanted to. Still, they completed each other's lives.

At that moment, as Lucas drew in the dirt with the stick, Claus was up to no good, as usual. Their father, Flint, was out traveling to the next town over to trade, and Claus took this opportunity to snoop in places he'd been told not to snoop, AKA, the forbidden basement. Lucas had told him he wanted no part of it, and waited outside for his brother to finish. The sound of the front door opening and closing alerted him.

"Lucas! Luc, you oughta look at this!" Claus cried. Lucas heard the crunching of wheat getting closer and closer as his twin approached.

"I told you, I don't want anything to do with this! Dad's gonna be so mad when he- Oooh, what's that?" Lucas, upon turning around, saw Claus holding what looked like a large, leather book wrapped closed in dried grass string. Claus sat down and stared at the book in anticipation.

"Just wait 'till you see what's inside of it." He smirked, undoing the string and opening to the first page.

In neat, black ink, it read in bold letters:

" **The Psychic's Guide to Psionic Anomaly** "

Lucas instantly scooted back, backing up against the tree. He stared at the book with a nervous gaze.

"Claus, go put that back! You know that PSI is a terrible thing! We could get really, _really_  hurt if we're caught!" He whispered with urgency. Tazmily's biggest law stated that the studying of PSI was deeply forbidden, and if this rule was broken, the culprit could suffer deadly consequences.

"But look who wrote it!" Claus pointed to smaller letters printed underneath the title. Lucas leaned forward and inspected it.

" _Documented and studied by Hinawa Dolray._ " He read out loud. Lucas gasped, "Wait, mom? This belonged to mom?"

"Weird, right? What was she doing with something like this?" Claus wondered. "She would've been executed if she'd been caught with this.  _We_  could get executed."

"Which is why you need to go put it back where you found it!" Lucas insisted, backing up against the tree again.

"You mean you don't want to learn about how cool PSI is?" Claus asked smugly.

"How could you say that? Lighter says that it's a taboo in our world, Claus. There isn't anything 'cool' about it!" Lucas protested, remembering the words of Lighter, a friend of their father's.

"But think about it! Being able to create fire out of nowhere. Shooting ice from your hands. Talking to people in your  _mind._ " Claus continued, putting both hands on his head.

"Stop it, you're trying to scare me!" Lucas pouted, "I'm going inside. If you wanna read that, go ahead, but I want nothing to do with it!" He stood up and walked away, heading inside the house and closing all the windows. He sat on the bed that he and Claus shared, and crossed his arms. There was no way he was gonna let himself get involved with that horrible dark magic. He spent the hours wondering why his mother, who had died years earlier, would own something like this. He felt disgusted, knowing that this artifact had been in the basement this whole time. He wondered if his father knew about this. What if this was the reason they were never allowed to go down there?

Every once in a while, he'd look through the blinds of the front window and catch sight of Claus sitting cross legged, the open book sitting in his lap. He seemed to be incredibly interested in it, and it only made the pit in Lucas' stomach grow bigger.

As the hours went by, the sky grew darker. Lucas knew that the sheep on their farm must've been getting hungry, but he was too frightened to go outside to feed them. His overactive imagination formed an angry mob that would take both him and his brother and burn them in a fiery death. He walked to the nearest window and gently pulled back the blinds, peeking outside. The sun was nearly set, and Claus still wasn't coming inside. They weren't allowed to be out after sunset, so Lucas decided to muster up enough courage to creak open the front door and alert his brother to come inside.

"Claus!" He called, "Claus, you gotta come inside."

He got no answer. Perhaps his twin was mad at him for leaving, he thought. Then again, maybe he was just being stubborn, as always. Lucas flung open the door to go over there and get him, but he gasped upon making a discovery.

Claus was gone, and the book lay in his place.

Lucas looked around; Claus was nowhere to be seen. He called his name a few times, getting progressively louder. When he again got no answer, he decided he had to search in the village. He grabbed his jacket from inside and carefully made his way down the steep hill, towards the village with glittered with streetlamps. Continuing to call for his brother, he caught the attention of two other villagers. Friends of his, named Fuel and Nana. They jogged towards him.

"Lucas? What's wrong?" Asked Nana, twirling a lock of blond hair around her finger, "Why're you out here, it's almost dark!"

"I'm looking for Claus, I can't find him anywhere." Lucas explained, almost on the verge of tears.

"Oh no..." Nana murmured quietly. Fuel, who also seemed worried, spoke up.

"I'll go get my dad, he'll know what to do." He said, running into his nearby cabin, where he then emerged with his father, Lighter.

"Lucas, Fuel says that you can't find your brother." Lighter recalled, kneeling down so that he could look Lucas in the eye.

"Mmhmm. I stayed inside today because I wasn't feeling well, and when I came outside to tell Claus to come in, he was gone." Lucas explained, only slightly lying. He was shaking like a leaf, knowing that he was keeping an incredibly dangerous secret from Lighter. If he even let it slip that he and Claus had possession of the book, they both would most likely be threatened with torture. He knew how ruthless it could get.

"Crap...listen, I'll send a messenger bird to Flint, telling him to come back, okay?" Lighter assured him. Lucas only nodded.

An assortment of the strongest and fastest in the village was assembled to find Claus. After searching through every cottage and every shed in a period of two hours, it was clear that Claus was no longer within Tazmily. With that, the villagers realized that they had to expand. Different sections of people were organized to search the surrounding forest. As the tension and fear rose, the moon did as well, and the orange light of lit torches was too much for Lucas to handle. He was escorted by another villager back to his house, and begged to be left alone. The villager must have heard the desperation in his voice, for they obliged, thinking he was simply too overwhelmed to speak to people right now.

In reality, Lucas needed to get that book, and nobody could be around to see it. Once the light of the villager's torch had disappeared, Lucas rushed from the cabin and navigated his way to the same tree as earlier. The book was still there. Feeling as if he was touching a poisoned vessel, he hesitantly set his fingers upon the open book and picked it up, gently closing its cover and hugging it to his chest. Sooner rather than later, his father would quickly return, and would find Lucas with the book. As he carried the forbidden object back to the cabin, Lucas wondered if his father was even aware it existed at all. When his mother was still alive, she and Flint were unimaginably close. The thought of them keeping secrets from each other was heartbreaking, so there was no way Flint didn't know what this book was and what it was for.

Lucas, once inside, stopped in front of the basement trapdoor. He held his breath, and reached down with one hand to gingerly pull open the latch, and swing the plank up with an eerie creaking sound. A gust of cold air with the scent of old books and metal washed over him. With a shaky foot, he took a step into the darkness before him. Then another. Then another. After eight full steps, he found himself standing on the packed dirt floor of the basement, which was only lit by the warm light upstairs.

Ever since he was a young toddler, Lucas had been convinced the basement would be filled with terrifying creatures and dark entities that would leap at him instantly through the blackness, but to his surprise, all he saw were stacks of boxes, and not that many too begin with. The room was actually quite bare. He pushed away his hesitation and quickly searched around for any place the book could've been stored in before. Unfortunately, all the boxes looked the same to him, only marked with the frequent 'OLD CLOTHING' or 'FABRIC' in ink.

However, as Lucas passed one particular set of boxes, he stopped, and turned.

"It's that one."

The voice in his mind was definitely his own. The box below him didn't look special in any way, but the first thing he saw when he opened it was a familiar piece of clothing; a floral sundress that he knew very well. This was his mother's dress. He and Claus had made it for her birthday once. Lucas smiled, remembering the process. They'd gotten a white dress and made the pattern on it by dipping flowers in beet juice and pressing it into the fabric. His mother had told them that she would cherish it forever. This was a box full of special things, there was no doubt. The book belonged here. Lucas gently set the item on top of the dress and closed it. He didn't spend another second questioning the voice in his head and where it came from. He raced up the stairs and slammed the trapdoor before him.

Not even a minute later, someone stepped into the cabin; Flint. His face was filled with terror and worry, each movement shaky.

"Lucas!" Flint instantly rushed to his side and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Lucas, did you see where Claus went?" He asked, voice urgent.

"N-no...!" Lucas whimpered, frightened by how tight his father's grip was on his arms and the tone of his voice.

"Did he tell you where he was going?!"

"No! I-I went inside, and when I came back out, he was gone!"

Flint, realizing he was getting nowhere, let go of his son and made his way to the door again. "Stay inside!" He called over his shoulder, before leaving almost as quickly as he'd arrived. Lucas watched him go through the window, and saw a crowd of torchlights gathered at the base of the hill their house sat on. A mob was forming in the town below. Within seconds, the lights began to disappear into the forest. The town was soon bare, lit only by the streetlights. Lucas sighed, turned around, and began to walk to his bed. However, something stopped him.

It was the same voice in his head as before.

It wasn't really a voice; more like an urge. It sounded like wispy air, or the rustling of the trees. Although there were no actual words being said, Lucas could easily tell what the voice was telling him:

" _The tree. Go to the tree._ "

Lucas placed his hands over his ears in an attempt to drown out the sound, but it was coming from inside his own head. He tried everything, from shaking his head to submerging himself under a blanket. The voice just wasn't leaving.

" _Go to the tree._ "

" _What tree?!_ " Lucas cried. While saying this, he turned to face the front window once more. The first thing he saw was the pine tree Claus had been reading the book under. He narrowed his eyes, and almost in a trance-like state, made his way towards the door. Forgetting his father's orders, Lucas opened the front door and stepped into the night. As he approached the tree, he began to notice something odd in the grass.

Upon kneeling down and gently placing his fingers over it, Lucas realized he was touching a coat of icy crystals. It was a layer of frost over the grass. This was of course strange, as snow was rare in Tazmily, not to mention that it was also the middle of summer. On second thought, why was this one patch of grass affected? Lucas continued to run his hand over the grass, before feeling something different. Not too far from the ice, he felt a crisp, delicate texture. Upon leaning down to see better, he realized the grass he was touching was singed. The tip of each blade was black. Somehow, this grass had caught on fire.

The phenomenon confused Lucas beyond imagination. He'd never seen anything like this; how could this even happen? How could one area be frozen over, but the other was obviously affected by intense heat?

He slowly glanced up, and stared into the dark insides of the forest in front of him. As wind intensified, blowing his hair and the branches of the trees, Lucas continued to keep a sincere gaze on the blackness. The voice inside of him wasn't saying anything in particular, but he could make out a concept. The voice wanted him to go in. He sensed a strange energy coming from the trees. Despite this; Lucas managed to fight against the voice. He ripped his eyes away from the forest and sprinted back into the house, sighing in relief once feeling the warmth of the interior.

Almost not feeling anything and not even bothering to change into his nightwear, Lucas crawled into his bed and buried his head under the pillow, trying to shut out endless thoughts. The endless paranoia of where Claus was and what he'd done at that tree continued to claw and bite at him. Even as he drifted into sleep, he dreamed of the forest and what was in there. He dreamed of the frosted and seared grass and how it came to be. But most of all, he dreamed about that book. That god forsaken book, and what it was doing in  _his_  house, in the possession of  _his_  mother.

And for every day after that, he lived knowing about it. Knowing that below the ground, that object rested.

Claus never came back.

* * *

The day Lucas turned sixteen was an important day indeed. Within Tazmily, when a boy turned sixteen, he was then considered a man. Lucas felt a newfound sense of pride in himself on this day.

It had been six years since the disappearance of Claus on that night. He was never recovered; the only sign of him was a single shoe found on a large stretch of prairie, and it was now safe to assume that the poor boy was long gone. Flint, now having lost both his wife and his son, was beginning to lose sense of what was real anymore. Often times, he would come home asking Lucas where Claus had gone that day, and Lucas would have to once again remind him of what happened. On some days, Flint would lose the shine in his eyes and nod, having remembered. But other times, he would lose control of himself and furiously travel into the forest to look for Claus again. There was the rare occurrence of Flint snapping and attempting to strike Lucas across the face out of anger, but Lucas never told anyone about that.

Lucas, however, grew used to it. Through those six years, he began to grow into a respectful, handsome young man. Now, he was still shy and reserved, but he had improved when it came to speaking to other people and the like. Now that he no longer had his brother, Lucas had to learn how to do things for himself. The villagers all understood this, and aided the boy in his development from child to teenager.

There were two people who helped prevent Lucas from becoming even more isolated after the incident; Fuel and Nana. The two of them continued to stick with him no matter what. And on this particular day, he couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather spend it with.

The three friends were at their favourite place in the whole village; a large pond that sat within the forest. The sky was a deep orange hue, as the sun was beginning to set. Lucas sat on a large boulder next to Nana, while Fuel scanned the ground, searching for flat stones to skip across the water. As Fuel looked, Lucas turned to Nana.

"The days are getting longer," Lucas mentioned, "Summer's coming."

"Just around the corner!" Nana replied, nodding excitedly. She looked down at the grass below sheepishly and squirmed a bit. Lucas did the same. He tried to search for anything to say to start a conversation, but Nana spoke before he could, "So, sixteen years old, huh? How does it feel?"

"I mean, I'm still the same old Lucas. Just with a deeper voice and authority over both of you." Lucas playfully said in his usual soft, quiet voice.

"Oh, shut  _up!_  Just because you're two months older doesn't mean you're some kind of boss or something." Fuel cried back, kicking a few stones away from him. "Let's be honest, Nana is the boss of all of us. She could kick both of our asses."

Both boys laughed while Nana grinned smugly, nodding her head.

"Not Lucas', though." Nana clarified. Fuel rolled his eyes.

"That's only because you think it looks nice." He teased. Nana's eyes instantly widened. She sprung up and began to swat hysterically at Fuel, who raised his arms to defend himself.

"Liar! Liar! Liar! I don't like him!" Nana cried, shoving Fuel.

"I never said anything about you  _liking_  him, Nana." Fuel smirked, resting his hands on his knees and raising an eyebrow at her. Nana froze, before clenching her jaw angrily and whipping around, her long blonde hair smacking Fuel in the face as she turned and sat back down on the rock. As Fuel cracked up in the background, Lucas put a hand on Nana's shoulder.

"Don't listen to him, Nana. I believe you." Lucas smiled. Nana smoothed out her dress and cast a look at Fuel.

" _Thank you,_  Lucas. See, Fuel? Lucas gets it." She huffed.

"If you say you don't like me, you don't like me." Lucas said, before grinning mischievously, "You _love_  me."

" _Lucas!_ " Nana gasped, a look of utter betrayal upon her face. She pretended to look hurt, but eventually joined the other two in laughter, raising a hand over her face to cover the fact that she'd given in.

The sudden rustle of bushes caught their attention. A familiar head poked out from the brush.

"I figured I'd find you kiddos here." Said an older woman from the village; Caroline. She had taken the role of caring for Lucas, for Flint had neglected to. "Seems like I can always hear you from a mile away. Fuel, Nana, your parents asked me to fetch you. Lucas, you'd better come too." Caroline requested.

Lucas nodded, stretching his arms above his head with a groan of satisfaction. He hadn't realized how long he'd actually been sitting on that rock.

"Aye, aye, aye..." He muttered, "Caroline, have you seen my dad at all today?"

Caroline's eyes sadly darkened as she shook her head softly, "He's out in the forest again."

"Ah, okay. I'll sleep at my house tonight, if that's okay." Lucas suggested. Caroline nodded.

The rest of the walk back to the village was silent. The sun's rays drifted through the trees, casting small patches of light on the ground. Each time Lucas walked through one, the sunlight seemed to ignite something inside of him. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but something shifted in his mind each time the light touched his skin. He flinched, feeling the slight discomfort of a headache, but managed to distract himself as he heard the sounds of his village approaching. Once the trees parted and he entered the bustling town, dozens of heads turned to smile at him. In response to the multiple greetings, he smiled back and waved.

"Have a good evening, Caroline." Lucas said, facing his caretaker. Caroline beamed and nodded.

"You too, sweetie. Be safe walking home."

After saying a quick goodbye to his friends, Lucas set off on his journey home. As he walked along the pathway that he'd grown to memorize, he greeted each villager he passed, and thanked everyone who congratulated him on his coming of age. Once making it to the outskirts of the town, he came across the base of the hill his house sat upon. He then began the long trek upwards. Over the years, his legs had grown strong and tough, capable of travelling up this steep hill with ease. Lucas remembered the days when he'd have to hold the hand of his father or mother, as his small child legs were too weak to carry himself. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he reached the top, bending over and touching the ground to stretch the back of his legs, which ached.

Lucas turned and ran his gaze over the village below. From up here, it looked small. The darkening sky illuminated the streetlamps and houselights. Beyond it, he saw the large forest which seemed to never end, it's trees resembling waves rising and crashing in the ocean; dark silhouettes that loomed like spirits over Tazmily. He turned and crossed the front yard, which lead to the familiar sight of the cozy log cabin. He hadn't been to his own home in a while, most of his time was spent at Caroline's house. But seeing that this would probably be a night where his father would not return and Lucas wouldn't have to face him, he took the opportunity to spend some time in his childhood home.

Once inside, Lucas removed his shoes and walked to the furnace, where he lit a few pieces of wood ablaze. The fire lit up the small room and filled it with a nice warmth. He then went to the kitchen on the other side of the room to heat up some water on the stove. As that was happening, he opened a cabinet to reveal a glass jar filled with green and brown pieces; dried tea leaves he'd picked weeks ago, and placed here to dry. He filled a clay mug with the boiling water and stirred a single tablespoon of the dried leaves in, creating a brownish mixture. The aroma of mint and raspberry leaf calmed him, and made his eyelids droop ever so slightly. He mixed in a bit of honey he'd collected from the beehive outside of the house, and he was done.

For the next hour, Lucas sat on the wooden floor cross legged, facing the furnace, wrapped in a handmade blanket, alone with his tea and his thoughts. As he stared at the flames, that weird feeling of power came back. Except this time, the fire had power over  _him_. They were speaking to him, as if they were...beings. Orange ghosts dancing in the furnace entrance. He swore he could hear their voices, but he didn't have the slightest idea of what they were saying. He stared on, hypnotized by the ever-twirling embers and smoke. He felt like the fire was a person, and the person shared a connection with Lucas. A human connection. For the first time in a while, Lucas felt true peace of mind. Despite growing into a stronger person over the years, the shadows of his past weren't gone. Except now, for that hour of gazing into the fire, it felt as if they were.

It was the shifting of the front doorknob that jolted Lucas from his moment of tranquility. He sat up straight, staring at the door with wide eyes.

"Dad..." He muttered.

Of course, it was his father who entered the house. It had been a solid week and a half since Lucas had last seen his parent, and he looked even worse than last time. The tired, broken reminder of what was once a happy, healthy man staggered into the room, eyes sunken and dark, and skin pale. He left muddy footprints on the floor as he walked. His eyes seemed to be glazed over, and his face looked like he was in a trance of some sort. The poor man walked right past Lucas, who faced away and pretended not to see him. It was quiet, and Lucas wasn't sure what Flint was doing. He didn't dare turn his head to find out.

Suddenly, Flint's voice broke the silence.

"Your mother must be out in the village again." He murmured, sounding as if he hadn't spoken in days, "That's Hinawa for you. Always doing her village business in the early day."

Lucas didn't say anything. Flint didn't seem to notice. He sounded like he didn't know how to use his voice when he talked; like it didn't belong to him.

"It's such a nice day." He repeated.

"It's nighttime, dad." Lucas replied, voice hushed. Flint paused.

"Ah, yes...It would seem so." He breathed in a shaky breath, "The sun is not out." Lucas heard him wander around the room aimlessly. He begged that his father wouldn't ask that question that he hated with all of his being. He had to create a distraction.

"How was your journey?" Lucas asked, forcing a sense of calmness into his voice.

"Where's your brother?" Flint brought up.

Every muscle in Lucas' body clenched. He stared down at the floor, and bit his tongue. It was inevitable. Lucas stood up and walked to the other side of the room, close to the door.

"He's dead." Lucas replied, "Don't you remember?"

Silence.

"Dead..." Flint muttered, "Ah...I remember now. Claus is dead."

Lucas mentally prepared himself.

"What happened?" Flint asked.

"He..." Lucas hesitated, and said the same lie he'd always said, "...drowned. Over there, in the ocean. Remember?"

"That can't be right. I specifically remember that we found his shoe in the forest."

Lucas' heart quickened. It was rare his father remembered that part. Flint took a step towards him. Lucas grit his teeth.

"You didn't protect him. You didn't stop him." Flint hissed. Lucas slowly turned around to face his father, who was a few feet away. His eyes held only anger and hatred for his son.

"N-no." Lucas admitted, knowing it was useless to object.

"And now my boy is dead because of you." Flint's voice rose ever so slightly. Lucas swallowed.

"...Yes."

He had a split second to react when a chair was suddenly thrown at him. Lucas quickly ducked, covering his head. The chair smashed against the wall behind him, a few chips of wood scattering. Lucas backed up against the wall, grabbing the chair and holding it out in front of himself for protection.

" _You killed him! It's your fault! It's yo-_ " Flint's outburst was interrupted when he let out a groan of pain, collapsing onto his knees. Lucas set the chair down and stood up, slowly approaching him. This wasn't the first time Flint had nearly passed out from exhaustion. He watched his father writhe for a few seconds, before Flint looked up at him with the same gaze he'd entered the house with.

"Lucas..." Flint began, "Where's your brother?"

Lucas didn't answer. Instead, he bent down to help his broken father up off the floor. Flint glanced around the room, confused, as if he wasn't sure of where he was. He willingly laid down in his bed, where Lucas had led him, and almost immediately fell asleep. As he slept, he was quiet. Lucas watched his pathetic father for a while, to make sure he didn't get up and wander.

He began to turn around, but he was stopped by a noise.

" _...Boys..._ " Flint murmured, " _...Boys...Happy Sixteenth..._ "

For a quick moment, Flint sounded happy. Lucas felt his mouth just barely form into a smile. But it didn't last long. Because of him, his father was now a delusional and confused mess of a man. The guilt of causing all of this was overwhelming. Lucas couldn't believe himself, and how selfish he was, letting his brother run off like that.

Lucas disgusted himself.

* * *

It was only when Lucas had exited the house and walked to the cliff side; that was when he let himself cry. It started as a single tear, gently trailing down his cheek as he looked at the waves below, but it didn't take long for him to fall to his knees, sobbing. All of the emotions he'd been holding in that night simply burst out in the form of tears. He was slightly embarrassed, knowing that he was considered a young adult now, yet here he was, crying alone like he was ten years younger. Boys weren't supposed to do this, he'd been told time and time again. He was ashamed.

He stayed there for a while. It only took a few minutes for him to let it all out. He rubbed the last bit of wetness from his eyes and sniffed. He felt better now, and had the brief idea that perhaps, everything was fine. He stared at the horizon. The sun was gone now, shrouding the village in darkness. The only light came from the half moon above and the village lights below.

He heard a twig snap behind him.

Lucas quickly wiped his eye on his shoulder and stared ahead, pretending nothing had happened. Before she even spoke, Lucas could tell by the scent of peppermint that it was Nana. This was someone he knew he could cry around.

"Why're you here?" He asked, the sadness in his voice making him sound unintentionally bitter. He quickly turned around to face her, "Sorry, I didn't..."

He could see Nana smile in the darkness. She had already changed into her nightgown. She approached him and sat down beside him, letting her legs dangle off the cliff side.

"It's okay, I get it." She purred, placing her hands in her lap. She glanced at Lucas, who was staring into the ocean below. His eyes were red, and his hands were shaking. This was something she'd seen many times. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Did it happen again?"

Lucas slowly looked up at her, before bursting into tears again, nodding. Nana pulled him close, letting him bury his face into her neck. She brushed a hand through his hair, as she'd done many times before.

"S-sorry, Nana..." Lucas stammered, gripping the fabric of her nightclothes.

"Lucas," Nana pulled back, and took his face in her hands, looking him in the eye, "Don't start, you hear me?"

"But you have to deal with me being...freakin'  _pathetic_  all the time, I-I..."

" _Don't start_ , okay? Lucas, I care about you. I'm your best friend, okay? You're always there for me when I need you, it's only fair that I..." Nana trailed off, regretting raising her voice. She grit her teeth, and hugged him again, harder this time, "C'mere."

It didn't take long for Lucas to calm down. He was completely humiliated. Nana didn't deserve this. It wasn't her job to help him through this. Lucas couldn't believe himself. His friend wasn't a therapist, for Christ's sake, but here he was, letting her be one. He was probably overwhelming her.

" _Disgusting. Disgusting. disgusting._ " He repeated in his mind, over and over again. "I'm okay, now. Thanks, Nana." He sat up straight, and looked out at the ocean again. He watched the moon's reflection warp and twist in the water. Nana watched too, letting her gaze trail to the line where water met the sky. She sighed.

"...Someday, I'm gonna get out of here." She murmured, deciding to change the subject to get his mind off of things. Lucas turned to her, surprised.

"What? You mean leave Tazmily?" He asked.

"Well, yeah. You can't expect me to live my whole life here."

"But it's perfect here."

"Exactly." Nana insisted, "Everything runs like a machine here. The same day, on repeat. Doesn't that sound kinda boring?" She asked, crossing one leg over the other.

Lucas paused. He'd never thought about that; she was right. Tazmily was already where it needed to be. It didn't need upgrades, or changes. The village would work this way for decades after this.

"Come to think of it..." Lucas replied, "You're right."

"My old man told me about the other places in the world," Nana said, grinning. "He says that there are thousands of other villages. He even says that there are villages that are so big, the houses are stacked up on top of each other." She claimed, her eyes sparkling.

"What? Fake." Lucas said. "Your dad's crazier than mine."

"No way, he's been there! He brought me these little paper thingies with pictures on them. These villages are crazy. There's great big metal trees with lights on them, and hard black mud on the ground. And people can get into these big metal animals that take them all over the place! Kinda like our horses." Nana explained.

"Metal horses?" Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They're not  _really_  horses, but you can control them just like one. With a little wheel." Nana said, "But you know what's the coolest? There are these great big buildings made out of metal. And they're so big, they touch the sky!" She thrust her arms up to the sky, letting herself fall back onto the grass. Lucas snickered, crashing down beside her. He always enjoyed Nana's stories. The two stared up at the stars. Nana sighed, and let her arms fall, "I just wanna go there. To one of those big villages."

"Well, why don't you?" Lucas asked, rolling over to face her. Nana bit her lip, and faced the other direction. Lucas stared at her, confused. It took him a minute to catch on, and he smirked. "Nana, why did you come up here in the first place?"

"Well, it's your sixteenth! I figured I outta come talk to you." She insisted. She turned back to gaze at Lucas, who didn't move a muscle. Nana finally gave in a sighed, rolling over to face him completely. "Fine. Alright _._  See, the thing is..."

"Yeah?" Lucas pushed.

"I needed to talk to you about something." Nana said, fiddling with a dandelion she'd picked. As she tore off the petals from the flower, she continued, "I actually was planning on leaving. On running away and never looking back."

"Well then why don't you just do it?"

"Because there's something I don't wanna go without."

"What is it?"

"...You."

Lucas froze, not knowing what to say. He forced himself to talk, "Me?"

Nana nodded her head sheepishly. She shifted so that her head was laying on her arm, "Lucas, you know what? I was thinking. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend my life with."

Lucas was silent for a moment. His heart began to pound. He grinned a little bit, "...Yeah?"

"Yeah." Nana smiled, "I just wanna grab your hand, and we'll run off! Together! And we won't stop until we reach one of those big villages." She continued as Lucas listened, intently, "And then..." She breathed in, "...Then, I'll marry you."

"Married? You and me?" Lucas repeated, bewildered.

"Mmhmm." Nana hummed, "And...we'll find a house on the outskirts of the big village. It'll be cozy, but not small. It'll have one floor, though. I don't like stairs. It'll have a little flower bed in the front, and a little back porch..."

"A white fence?" Lucas suggested.

"Yes, and a white fence!" Nana exclaimed, unknowingly grabbing his hand. Neither of them noticed. "And...every morning, I'll wake up to the smoke alarm. I'll run to the kitchen!" Nana suddenly stood up, running over a few feet as if entering a scene, "Turns out, you were just trying to make breakfast again. And you burnt it.  _Again._ " She sneered. Lucas snickered, and stood up as well, standing a few feet away from her. He covered his face shamefully.

"I'll be the guiltiest person in the world..." He whispered, dramatically. Nana giggled, delighted that he was playing along, and trotted over to him. She playfully hugged him from behind.

"Buuuut, I'll eat it anyways." She said. She grabbed his hand, "Then, we'll realize that we're late for our jobs!"

"Oh no!" Lucas dramatically yelled.

"Aaaaaaand, we'll rush downtown!" Nana pulled him with her as she ran to a new spot. "And you'll say goodbye before going to work your shift at..." She thought for a moment. Lucas thought about what job he would want.

"...The flower shop." He decided, picking another dandelion from the ground and stroking it gingerly.

"Yes, exactly! You'd be such a wonderful florist." Nana excitedly said, "And I'll work my shift as..."

"A lawyer."

"What's a lawyer?"

"Someone who argues with other people to get their way." Lucas taunted. Nana gasped jokingly.

"It's perfect for me!" She laughed, "Madame Natasha Karalee, at your service." She murmured, crossing her arms in a serious manner.

"Pfft,  _Natasha?_ You haven't used your real name in years."

"You think their gonna take my nickname seriously? Who wants to argue with a girl named  _Nana?_ "

"Who wouldn't? I do it all the time." Lucas teased, sticking his tongue out at her. She did the same.

"And we'll work all day, before finally, our shift ends! And we meet at the bus stop." Nana said.

"What's a 'bus stop'?" Lucas asked.

"It's a place where you can get into a big metal box; kind of like a train, and it takes you to places you wanna go." Nana clarified, "And we'll both decide that we're too tired to cook tonight. So, we'll go and find a restaurant to eat at."

"Kinda like the Yado Inn?" Lucas asked, gesturing down the the village.

"Nonononono, a fancy place. Where they serve smooshi." Nana explained, sitting down and politely crossing her legs, pretending to drape a napkin over her lap. Lucas sat down across from her.

"What's 'smooshi'?"

"It's like raw fish and rice, and it costs a lot of money. And then, when we're done, we'll run to catch the bus!" Nana grabbed his hand again and ran back near the cliff. Lucas followed, laughing the whole way. Nana continued, "Thank goodness, we could catch it in time."

"Whew!" Lucas added.

"And then...!" Nana paused for a moment, and went silent. She looked down, and saw that she was holding both of Lucas' hands. Lucas saw this too. They locked eyes, and everything went silent. Lucas could feel his face growing warmer by the second. And from what he saw, so was Nana's. She swallowed, and took a shaky breath in, "A-and then, we'll go back to our little house that belongs just to the two of us." She took a step forward.

"And the next day..." Lucas continued.

"...We'll do it all again." Nana finished his sentence. Lucas snickered a little bit.

"But you said you didn't want to repeat the same day. It'd be boring." He reminded. Nana smiled.

"No, it wouldn't." She murmured.

"Why not?" Lucas asked, taking a step forward as well.

"Because you'll be there alone with me." Nana said, "And I can't think of anything more exciting than that."

The grip she had on Lucas' hands tightened. She was scared, but then again, so was he. He could feel his palms growing sweatier by the second. Unable to look away from her face, that beautiful, sweet little face, he kept eye contact. He wasn't sure if he was excited or terrified; probably a mix of both. Lucas didn't want to ruin this. He realized that he had to stop letting himself do the talking, and just let his heart lead him. His heart was telling him to slowly lean forward; so he did.

" _I have no idea what I'm doing..._ " He thought. He'd never kissed anyone before. He didn't know if there was some kind of rule. However, when he saw Nana inching forward with the same, anxious expression, he knew that she had no idea what she was doing either. A shiver went down his spine when his forehead touched hers. He could just barely feel her eyelashes. Just before their lips could touch, he backed away, putting a hand over his face.

"Sorry." He muttered, laughing nervously.

"It's fine! It's okay." Nana insisted, also giggling. She leaned in, whispering, "I was about to do the same thing."

" _Aye..._ " Lucas ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the grass below. He searched Nana's face for any sign of disappointment, but to his relief, there was none. "Still wanna spend your life with  _me_ , of all people?" He joked.

"Of  _course!_ " Nana insisted, "I love you, I...!" She stopped herself, almost shocked that she'd let that slip out. She continued, "I love you. I want to go away with you."

Lucas was just as shocked as she was. He felt his eyes sting; he couldn't remember the last time some said that they'd loved him. He gave her a tearful smile.

"Well, I'd run away with you."

"Really?!"

"In a heartbeat."

"Well then let's go!" Nana cried, gesturing to the forest and pulling him along.

"Whoooaaa, okay, lemme rephrase that. Less of a "heartbeat", more like...a day. Gimme a day to get my shit together, and then..." He hesitated.

"...Then, we'll be off" Nana completed. Lucas nodded.

"Tomorrow night when the village is quiet, meet me at the pond in the forest. We'll be on our way." He told her. She nodded. Nana hurried to turn around and jog back towards the village, but she stopped. She gripped her night gown and faced Lucas. With a new sense of courage, she ran to him and cupped his face, kissing his cheek. It was aimed poorly, and the side of her mouth caught his. She backed up, eyes wide and a hand covering her mouth. Lucas stared back at her, stunned.

" _Does that count? Was that a kiss? Does it have to be full contact?_ " He thought as his heartbeat sped up.

"Eeek! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to...!" Nana stammered. They both burst into laughter. Nana brushed her hair out of her face and turned away, embarrassed. "Goodnight, Lucas." She said, "I can't wait."

"Me neither." Lucas whispered back, "Now go! Get rest! We've got a big day tomorrow, yeah?" He waved his arms to signal her back to the village.

"Yeah, okay!" Nana replied, her voice filled with nothing but excitement. "B-bye!" And with that, she took off, carefully making her way down the hill. Lucas watched her go, admiring every step she took. Her blond hair trailed behind her, and he noticed something fly out of it. He jogged forwards a bit to pick it up and return it to her, but she was too far away, and he didn't want to wake anybody by calling her name. Lucas stooped down and inspected the ground.

It was her hair ribbon. The red satin ribbon that she'd worn for ages to keep her hair up. He smiled as he picked it up. He'd give it to her tomorrow. Right now, the only thing on his mind was getting to sleep. The sooner he went the sleep, the sooner tomorrow would come, and the sooner he'd be out of this place.

As he forced himself to close his eyes, he could once again feel a headache. It hurt more than last time, but he couldn't care less. He'd finally be able to escape this place, his guilt, and his delusional father. And the whole time, he'd be with Nana.

The pain in his head stayed, but he managed to fall asleep anyways.

Everything was going to be perfect.

* * *

**"You want me to go get him?"**

**"Yes."**

**"...And his name?"**

**"Lucas."**

* * *

It was unusually warm.

Lucas turned over, groaning in response to the uncomfortable warmth. He could feel beads of sweat on his face. The headache was back, and stronger than ever.

" _Nnnh..._ " He clenched his jaw, and turned over again. This wasn't warm, this was hot. This was painfully hot. ". _..Dad..._ " Lucas choked. His voice was raspy. He felt like he was covered with a blanket, outside, on a summer day. Except he was completely blanket free, and out of the corner of his eye, the fireplace was out. He rolled onto his back, squirming around to somehow cease the growing heat. He could see out the window; the moon was still out. It was probably midnight, judging by the position of the stars and the shadows on the floor. Lucas pressed his hands against his face, but immediately yanked them away with a yelp of pain. It felt like he was touching a hot stove.

It was so uncomfortably hot, it was getting painful. Lucas whimpered a bit and took in short, shallow breaths. He had to get help.

" _Dad...!_ " Lucas cried, his voice cracking. He got out of bed, half jumping out, half falling out. He fell to his knees and gripped at his stomach, which also began to hurt. He could feel his clothing stick to his now wet skin. He began to itch.

As Lucas pulled himself across the floor, he continued to cry for help.

" _Dad!_  Dad, I'm...I feel... _help!_ " He screamed the last part, finally finding the strength in his voice.

In the bed next to his, Flint's eyes shot open. He jolted upright, and turned to see his son curled up in a fetal position on the ground. Lucas was relieved. He made eye contact with his father.

"Clau-" Flint nearly yelled. He stopped halfway. Then, something incredible happened. The cloudiness in Flint's eyes slowly faded, and Lucas saw the glimmer they had all those years ago. Not the fake, delusional cloud. The real, genuine sparkle. He knew that in that moment, Flint was there. He was really there. Flint's face turned to one of horror. " _...Lucas,_ " He panicked.

Lucas's eyes widened. As he felt his father scoop him up and pull him tightly to his chest, he felt a sense of familiarity. For a split second, Lucas was happy.

That didn't last, because another surge of pain ripped through his body. Lucas cried out again. Flint opened the front door, not bothering to close it behind him, and began to sprint across the front yard.

"No, nonononono...not now,  _please_ , not now...Hinawa, help me...dear god..." Flint muttered under his breath.

"Dad, where're we...?" Lucas asked. His words were slow, slurred, and broken. But Flint managed to make out what he was saying.

"I just need to get you to an open area. I know it hurts, Lucas, just...stay with me. I need you to stay awake." Flint's voice was quiet, but alarmed. Lucas let out another cry of agony, and started forcing himself to breathe. He could see that the fabric on Flint's clothing was turning black from the unexplainable heat.

Once Flint reached the center of the village, he laid Lucas down on his side. This was useful, as Lucas began to cough violently. Lucas saw splotches of black liquid spattered against the ground. He didn't know what on Earth he was coughing up, but he didn't think he wanted to. As he continued to writhe on the ground, paralyzed in torture, an assortment of tired villagers began to stream from their houses.

Flint saw the growing crowd, and swore under his breath.

"No, no! Go back, just let him be! He's sick, go back to your homes!" He ordered hysterically, waving his arms. Out of the crowd stepped Lighter, who advanced on his old friend.

"Flint, what are you going on about now? What's happening to Lucas?!" Lighter demanded, grabbing Flint by the shoulders. Flint shoved him off.

"He's sick, okay?! Listen, Hinawa told me this would happen when he..." Flint stopped himself, " _Water! I need water!_ "

Lighter, too scared to argue, simply ran off to the nearest well. Flint knelt down next to Lucas, rubbing his hand up and down his back. Lucas was coughing so violently, blood began to come out along with the black substance. Tears streamed down his face as he continued to suffer. He'd never felt pain like this in his life.

Soon after, Lighter returned with the water. Flint grabbed the bucket from him, and without hesitation, dumped the whole thing onto Lucas.

And in one second, it was all over.

The pain disappeared, his lungs cleared, and he could once again feel the cold breeze of the night. Lucas took in each breath as if it was his last. He'd never been so happy to feel the cold. The whole crowd was quiet, waiting to see what would happen now that the chaos was over. Lucas spread out onto his back, taking in a few more deep breaths, before launching into another coughing fit. This time, he coughed up something different. Something that made his throat feel scratchy. A loud gasp ran through the crowd. Above him, Lucas saw little black specks fly everywhere. Some of the specks were glowing red. He gasped quietly. This couldn't be...

"Cinders." Lighter suddenly muttered, "Your boy's coughin' up  _cinders_ , Flint. Like he's a goddamn firecracker. What the  _hell_  is goin' on, Flint?" He demanded, approaching Flint.

"Listen, the best thing y'all can do is go back home, 'aight?" Flint snapped.

"Your son in practically dyin' over there! Look at him, it's like he's-"

Lighter went quiet. Everybody did. As Lucas slowly sat up, he noticed that the crowd surrounding him had gone completely silent. This didn't bother him until he had sat up straight. He looked around, eyebrows knitted.

"Guys?" He murmured. It took him a realize that every face stared at him with a look of utter fear. Not even fear; horror. "What's up with you all? You're looking at me like I-" As he raised his arms to emphasize himself, he caught sight of his right hand. His heart practically dropped to the floor upon seeing a spectacle both wondrous and terrifying.

Enveloping his hand, clear as can be, was a bright orange flame.

Lucas watched the fire flicker off of his fingers, the spaces in between each finger glowing blue. He felt no pain, all he could feel was the slight warmth the flame gave off.

"Ah...!" He cried, shaking his hand. He shook it forcefully, but the fire did not go out. He dragged his hand against the ground, tried to smother it with his shirt, and stuck it in the nearby water pail to try and douse it. But no matter what he did, the flame continued to dance on his hand. Lucas began to breathe heavily, no longer able to keep his composure, "Someone... _someone get it off!_ " He screamed, holding his hand as far away from himself as he could. The moment he said that, the fire mysteriously went out with a puff of smoke and a scatter of ashes. A gasp ran through the stunned crowd. Lucas looked at all of them, his breaths growing shakier. The looks on their faces were going from frightened to...angered.

"Everyone...? What's going on, why do you all look..." He sputtered, his eyes darting around. Amoung the crowd, one face caught his attention.

It was Nana. Her face, like the others, was full of hatred. That's what made Lucas break.

" _Why are you all doing that?!_ " Lucas shrieked as he stood up. As he did so, a long trail of flames circled him, causing the crowd around him to let out panicked screams, and back away. Lucas glared down at the singed ground below him where the blaze had erupted. He raised his hands in the air to show he wasn't dangerous, "Guys, c-come on..." He stammered, "I'm not gonna hurt anyone...I just need your help so I can fix this...I don't know what's going on..." Lucas felt a tear leave his eye.

"I think we all know plenty."

It was Lighter, who spoke from behind him. Lucas whipped around to see Lighter, glaring at him with a piercing stare of malicious intent. Lucas took a step back.

"W-what?"

"Don't play dumb with me,  _'kick._ " Lighter growled. Lucas' chest burned upon hearing the slang word being directed at him. A 'Kick' was an insult term used to refer to a...

"A Psychic?" Lucas breathed. He began to shake his head, "N-no...I'm not...I'm not a Psychic, I would never..."

"All this time, we've cared for you. Lived with you in our village. And  _this_  is what we get?" Lighter snarled, his voice growing darker.

"Lighter,  _please..._ "

"Dirty, lying _'kick!_ " Lighter was yelling at this point. The crowd around him shouted a yell of agreement. Lucas began to back away from Lighter, who advanced on him. The noise around him grew. Each time he heard the word, Lucas hated it more and more. This was a word other village children would use to tease each other, naive of the actual meaning behind it. Lucas had used this word himself many times before, but now, it was an ugly, ugly word.

"I am not a Psychic...I am not a Psychic...I am not a Psychic _...I am not a Psychic!_ " Lucas finally cried. Without warning, spikes of clear ice jetted out of the ground as he waved his hand. The crowd collectively screamed and backed away once more.

"See that? He tried to kill us!" Lighter shouted. He approached Lucas, kicking away a few of the spikes of ice. Lucas watched as his hands clenched into fists.

"No! No, I wouldn't do that, you're my family-" Lucas was cut off by Lighter's hand suddenly connecting with the side of his face. The slap was so powerful, Lucas found himself falling to the ground. He pressed his own hand to his cheek, in an attempt to ease the stinging. He stared back up at his old friend, terrified. Lighter narrowed his eyes.

" _Call us your family one more time._ " He threatened, voice low.

"...Lighter...?" Lucas breathed, his voice shaking from the tears.

"Get the wood!" Lighter ordered, and the crowd of villagers scattered. Lucas was grabbed by two other villagers. Realizing what was about to happen, Lucas began to kick around as hard as he could in order to wrangle out of their grasp. He continued to scream, pleading with them to let him go.

" _I'm not a Psychic! Stop it! Please, stop it! I can get rid of it! I can-_ " Lucas was suddenly thrown to the ground. He had only a second to spit out the dirt, before he was harshly kicked in the chest. He choked, tasting blood in the back of his throat.

"That'll shut him up!" One villager cried.

"I've got the rope!" Another announced.

Too weak to defend himself anymore, Lucas went limp as he felt rope being tightened around his wrists and ankles. He was dragged to a long pole which was been shoved into the ground, where he was then tied to it. He watched as a pile of wood accumulated around his feet. His eyes drifted open and closed as he struggled to stay awake. From where he was, he could see two villagers at the back of everything, standing together.

Fuel and Nana.

They watched, completely still, as their best friend was being set up for the first execution Tazmily village had ever seen. Lucas found the strength to lift his head and make eye contact with Nana. As opposed to Fuel, who stared at Lucas with disgust, she had a face of sympathy. She didn't want this. Nana suddenly covered her face and ran in the opposite direction, unable to watch this go on any longer. Lucas realized this would be the last time he ever saw her.

" _Nana..._ " He choked.

Lucas glanced up, and saw that nearly the entire village was surrounding him. His arms were positioned in an incredibly uncomfortable and painful way. His chest burned, and a stream of blood still trickled down his mouth. He saw Lighter approach him, and strike a match.

And just like that, Lucas relived his entire life. For a few seconds, he remembered the days he'd spend chasing Claus down the village streets, narrowly turning to avoid knocking into people. He remembered helping Tessie fold her towels. He remembered taste testing for Abbey's practice baking. He remembered teasing young Angie about having an obvious crush on Fuel. He remembered sneaking into Thomas' Bazaar with Richie and Nichol, shuffling various products around before the grownups noticed. He remembered Lisa telling him the story about how his parents met.

He remembered his parents.

He remembered Claus.

He remembered Tazmily.

There was no use in fighting anymore. He tried to take advantage of his newfound abilities, but couldn't seem to make any fire or ice. He felt himself start to slip out of consciousness. It was all over. This was his punishment, for being such a terrible son and brother. Once again, Lucas disgusted himself. There was nothing left to fight for. He almost opened his mouth to dare Lighter to flick the match. To challenge him as one last hateful spit. He let his eyes slowly close.

He remembered Nana.

Time seemed to freeze for Lucas. As everything around him moved in slow motion, he opened his eyes. He heard the voice. The voice that had instructed him so many years ago. The voice that wasn't saying any words, but still speaking to him. It urged him. It motivated him. Lucas focused on a spot on the ground, and concentrated. All he could hear was his own breathing. The raging crowd made no noise. He felt his fingers start to prickle a bit. As he stared intently at the ground, the voice started to yell. His fingers then began to feel cold. A thin layer of frost began to creep over his skin. As Lucas breathed out, he saw a cloud of visible air puff in front of him. He shivered.

For the first time, the voice spoke a word.

" _Now!_ "

The world around Lucas went back into motion. He looked up, grit his teeth, and clenched his hands into fists.

" _PK Freeze!_ " Lucas screamed at the top of his lungs. An icy chill ran through his body and out of his fingers. In one quick movement, ice began to build up around him. It spread over the pile of wood and the base of the pole. It curled around the rope holding Lucas down, and shattered, breaking him free. He landed on his feet safely. When he hit the ground, another shock wave of frost exploded from the ground.

When all was quiet, Lucas slowly looked up at Lighter, who stared back at him in amazement. He was stuck where he was, for the ice Lucas had created spread over his boots, keeping him cemented to the ground. The two of them held eye contact for a few seconds. The tension hung in the air, everyone being unsure of who was going to attack first.

However, before anything could be done, a sudden villager burst from the crowd and threw himself in front of Lucas, arms outstretched, acting as a shield.

It was Flint.

" _Keep...your hands...off my boy._ " He panted.

Lighter growled, moving forward to push Flint away. He was stopped by the ice on his shoes. Grunting, he forcefully ripped the shoe from its trap, shattering the ice, then the other one. He walked towards Flint.

"Flint..." He began, his tone of voice softer now, "Since when do you care about him?"

"Since the moment I held him for the first time." Flint hissed, "I don't know what I've turned into...but I've been a shitty excuse for a father, that's for sure. Let me, just this once, treat my son the way he deserves it."

"He's a  _Psychic!"_

"He's my  _son!_ "

Lighter took another step forward.

"And just what do you think you're gonna do?" He asked. Flint hesitated.

"I know how to fix him." He claimed. Lucas stared at his father, dumbfounded.

"Fix him?"

"I know how to take away this whole Psychic thing. I learned how to do it on one of my journeys to another town." Flint explained. He reached behind him and grabbed Lucas, pulling him forward, "Lemme take him to the house. Give me a few minutes, and he'll be good as new."

Lighter stared at him with disbelief. "You really  _have_  gone crazy, haven't ya? Y'know what? Fine. Work your magic. I dare you." He said, "But what happens if it doesn't work?"

Flint sighed.

"Then we kill him." He answered, "Simple as that."

Lighter thought for a few moments. His mouth twitched. He looked at Lucas, then back at Flint. A small smile appeared on his lips, and he gestured to the hill to the house.

"Good luck, then." He murmured.

And with that, Flint tugged Lucas away and towards the hill.

* * *

"So that's it, then?! 'Oh yeah, go ahead and kill my son if he does anything remotely weird!' You've gotta be-"

"Hush up, we have to get you ready."

The moment Flint and Lucas stepped into the cottage, Flint immediately began to run all around the house, grabbing who knows what. Lucas watched his father go, angrily staring him down the whole time. He was still shaking. It felt like it wasn't even real. The fact that he had almost been publicly killed not even three minutes ago made him shiver. Flint suddenly walked to the back of the house, and stood above the trapdoor leading to the basement.

"Come." He beckoned. Lucas begrudgingly followed, somewhat scared of what his father might do to him. Flint lifted open the door, allowing Lucas to feel a sense of nostalgia upon smelling the musty room. The light from upstairs managed to illuminate the room enough.

"How are you gonna take my powers away?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not." Flint said, as he continued to rummage around in the boxes. "Those abilities are a sacred thing, Lucas. Never, _ever_  get rid of'em." He reached into one box and pulled out an old, leather bag. Lucas saw that it was strangely already packed.

"When did you pack this?" He asked.

"Sixteen years ago, after you were born." Flint set the bag down on a taller stack of boxes, using it as a table of sorts. He looked Lucas in the eye. "Lucas, I know you're scared right now. You're confused as all hell. You're wonderin' what the hell is goin' on."

Lucas nodded.

"Well, I can tell you. The thing about Psychic powers is that they're passed down. You can't just be born with 'em; it's all part of DNA." Flint explained, "You and your brother weren't just given these powers."

"You're a Psychic?!" Lucas gasped. Flint shook his head.

"No. But I married someone who was." He said. He reached into the bag and pulled out a familiar object.

The book.

It all made sense.

"Mom..." Lucas breathed, "Mom was..."

"Your mother was one of the most talented Psychics I'd ever laid my eyes upon. Through her life, she had to keep a whole part of herself a secret. The only person who knew was me." Said Flint, "When we found out she was with child, we knew at least one of you was gonna be a Psychic. So, she wrote this. She wrote this book especially for you and your brother, in the case where one or both of you was a Psychic. Now, you and I know how that turned out."

Lucas nodded, listening intently.

"Your ma knew that you didn't belong in Tazmily. She knew that when you turned sixteen, that was when you'd get your first PSI Fever, and your powers would activate. Knowing this, she and I planned your escape." Flint said.

" _Escape..._ " Lucas thought, as Flint dug inside the bag again.

"This," Flint smacked a piece of paper down on the box, "Is a map of our country; Nowhere Islands. There's Tazmily, right there." He pointed to a certain spot on the map. "Son, you've memorized this map inside and out. What do you notice that's different?"

Lucas' eyes scanned the map intently. He looked at each corner and each section, before his eyes rested on a named pinpoint he'd never seen before. He read it aloud, almost believing it was fake.

"O-Onett." He said, "But, you said this place was fake! Like in the stories mom used to tell me! It's never been on this map."

"No, it's always been there. But the thing is, it's a town of Psychics. Only Psychics can see it. All I see is a blank spot." Flint explained. "That's where you're going." He walked to the back of the basement, and began to shove a shelf out of the way. It revealed a black opening. A gust of cold air blew into the room. Lucas stared into the blackness. It had the same tempting pull as the forest did.

"Whoa..." Murmured Lucas.

"This is a tunnel your mother created with her PSI. Follow it, and it'll lead to a path straight to Onett." Flint lifted up the bag and quickly handed it to Lucas, who was too overwhelmed to argue or ask questions, so he shrugged it on. Flint continued, "That bag's got everything you need. Compass, extra map, the book, some dried food, and some matches. There's enough rations in there to last you a few days; that's about how long it'll take to get there. As long as you stay on the path, you'll get there."

"B-but..." Lucas wildly glanced around, unable to grasp what was happening. "I'm just...going? Leaving? Right now? Dad, I'm not ready, I..."

"If you don't go now, you are going to  _die_ , Lucas." Flint warned, grabbing Lucas by the shoulders, "You can't wait, alright? I understand, this is scary. I can't imagine how scared you are. But you need to  _go._ "

Lucas stared at his father with desperation. He hadn't seen him this in touch with reality in ages. In that moment, Lucas almost felt like Flint was the man he used to be. He knew he wasn't, but it was nice to imagine. Flint sighed, and his face softened.

"Lucas, look at me." He murmured. Lucas gently glanced up at him. Flint did something Lucas hadn't seen him do in ages; he smiled. And it wasn't a smile fueled by delusions. It was a real, genuine smile. "I-I know I haven't been much of a father..." He admitted, "So let me do this for you. You're not safe in this town, and you're definitely not safe with me."

Lucas did not disagree; he nodded.

"Listen to me. I know you're scared. But remember that you are your mother's son. That woman was a fighter, and that woman scared the hell outta me sometimes. You didn't take after me; I'm a coward. You took after your ma. And she was a trooper. And so are you." Flint said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him a little. "And I know you don't believe it. Especially not when it's comin' from me..." He paused, "But you'll figure it out."

Lucas felt himself start to cry again; he didn't care. He didn't know what to do; so he hugged him. Flint's eyes widened, obviously not expecting it. He wasn't a father who deserved his son's affection, but he took it while he could. He knew that soon enough, he'd slowly drift back into his delusions, and he was terrified. He didn't want to forget his family.

"Will I ever see you again?" Lucas asked, his voice quaking.

"I give you my word. I promise, you will." Flint confirmed.

The hug lasted for a while longer, until a sudden noise from upstairs alerted them. Flint looked up, gasping. There was banging and yelling at the front door, which wouldn't hold forever.

"Go! Into the tunnel, hurry! I'll send them in the other direction!" Flint cried. Lucas nodded and began to rush into the opening. He stopped, and turned around.

"D-dad?" Lucas called softly. He hadn't forgiven his father, he didn't even think he'd taken pity. He'd never forget about what he'd gone through because of him. But at the end of the day, he cared for him. "I...I love you, dad."

Flint's eyes seemed to water, but Lucas couldn't tell. Flint smiled again, and nodded.

"I love you too. And...please believe me when I say that."

With that, Flint shoved the shelf back into place, shrouding Lucas in complete darkness.

For the next few seconds, Lucas didn't know what to do. Would he run off, and end up far away from Tazmily? He realized that he'd probably never see his town again, or the people in it. Caroline, Abbey, Fuel...

" _...And Nana..._ " He thought, gritting his teeth. He remembered the last time he'd seen her face. She was the only one amoung the crowd who didn't look scared of him. She looked scared  _for_  him. He wondered if she still loved him. Was he still the same Lucas to her, or did she think he was a monster, just like everyone else?

A sudden banging noise from above him jolted him out of his thoughts. There was lots of yelling, but Lucas managed to make some of it out. It was coming from the top floor of the house.

"Where is he, did it work?!" It was Lighter's voice.

"I tried to come towards him, and he lost it! He was like an animal! Nearly killed me! He booked it into the forest over there! Managed to use that teleportation of his! Don't just stand there, get him!" Flint cried. The sounds of a yelling crowd and footsteps began to fade, and Lucas heard it heading in the opposite direction of himself. He sent a silent thank you to his father.

Lucas slowly turned, realizing he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face. He reached into a side pocket on the bag and pulled out a box of matches, taking one out and striking it. The flame barely lit up anything, and soon blew out. He groaned in frustration and put away the matches, knowing those wouldn't do him any good. There was no way he was walking through a pitch black tunnel. His hands clenched into fists.

He knew that he had an option. He just didn't want to use it.

There had to be some other way. He could sneak upstairs and find a torch or something. He could do anything else, he just didn't want to use the abilities he knew he was capable of. But with his heartbeat quickening and his hands beginning to shake due to the fear of the darkness, he eventually squeezed his eyes shut and raised his hand.

Although he couldn't see it, he focused on where he thought his hand was. He stared intently. He didn't know how to make fire, it had just happened before.

"Fire." He said aloud, feeling kind of foolish. Nothing happened. "Flame. Blaze. Embers. Fire, appear. Fire, happen." He continued to list off whatever he could think of to possibly make his abilities work. He eventually ran out of things to say. He wondered, what was it that he had yelled out to make the ice appear before? He thought long and hard, "Peko...Pe-kai. Pe-kay? PK? PK Fire?"

Lucas yelped in surprise when the palm of his hand was suddenly lit ablaze. He stared in wonder at the gentle flame, as it fluttered softly, like a flag in the wind. Although it was small, it was bright and powerful enough to light up a solid few meters in front of him. From it drifted ashes, which flew into the air and floated off wherever. At the base of the flame, small sparks jumped to and fro.

" _So that's the trigger,_ " He thought. He waved his fingers, and rolled his hand a bit. The fire simply stayed glued to his palm. As the orange flickers brushed against Lucas' fingers, he felt no pain. " _Wow..._ " He'd only ever thought of the evil of PSI, but had never really thought of the interesting nature of it. This would definitely be of use.

So, with that, he took off.

Running as fast as his legs would carry him, Lucas made his way down the newly lit pathway. As he ran, he noticed that the tunnel was oddly square shaped, as if he was running through a rectangle of some sort. The places where the wall met the ceiling were perfectly angular. This was definitely the work of his mother; no natural forces could do something like this.

For the next little while, all Lucas could think about was getting to the end of that tunnel. Everything that had happened in the past hour was all a blur. At one point, Lucas had almost forgotten what had happened all together. The only thing that was important was getting away. Far enough away so that he could walk safely. He wanted nothing more than to step outside and feel the night breeze on his skin. But for now, he was alone with himself and his thoughts.

It was when he'd seen a brief flicker of a different coloured light in front of him. He stopped jogging altogether, and took a moment to catch his breath. He hadn't realized how long he'd been running, and his chest burned. As he stood there, panting, he looked up and squinted in order to make sure that what he was seeing was real. His eyes weren't playing tricks; before him was a small glimmer of light. It was far, but it was there. Lucas forgot the burning in his lungs and broke into a sprint, sending dirt flying behind him as his heels dug into the ground. As the light grew closer, he could tell it was moonlight. He smiled, almost bursting into laughter out of joy. He was starting to hate that bloody tunnel.

Before he knew it, Lucas found himself stopping before the end. He saw that the tunnel narrowed down into a crawlspace, which led upwards. Lucas pulled up the sleeves of his jacket and gripped the dirt firmly, digging the tip of his shoe into the wall. With a grunt, he hoisted himself up, and began to army crawl the rest of the way through. Dirt and pebbles made their way under his shirt and into his fingernails, but he couldn't have cared less.

Lucas felt his hand break the surface, grabbing what felt like grass. He almost started crying.

"Yes...!" He murmured to himself, sliding out of the cramped hole. The sweet scent of the forest was like heaven compared to the musty scent of the passageway. Lucas brushed himself off, and jumped upon noticing that his hand was still engulfed in fire. He'd grown so used to it being there, he hadn't realized. He shook his hand, hoping to blow out the fire. To his confusion, it didn't work. He tried everything from rubbing his hand against a tree to smothering it with his jacket, which strangely didn't burn. The flames refused to douse.

As Lucas looked around desperately to find some other way to get rid of the fire, he slowly began to realize that he knew this place. He hadn't traveled that far at all, as he was near the pond he would always go to with Nana and Fuel. Before him, he saw a dirt path on the ground. This was the path he'd take into order to get to the pond.

" _This is the path dad was talking about?_ " Lucas wondered, as he began to walk. " _This is what gets me to Onett?_ " As a child, he'd often try to follow the path past the pond, to see how deep he could go into the forest, but he'd never get that far before getting scared. As he walked the path, he realized that when there was a pond, there was water. Perhaps that would get rid of the flames. His walk turned to a jog, and soon enough, he found himself at the large circle of water. He'd forgotten how eerie it looked at night. Across the stretch of water, he could see the area where he and his friends had been just a few hours earlier. He approached the egde and bent down, holding his hand out.

Before he could submerge it, he heard a voice. No...two voices. They seemed casual.

" _Shit,_ " Lucas thought, " _I'm dead._ "

He instantly rushed behind a tree and stuffed his glowing hand in his jacket. He'd made a lot of noise apparently, because the voices stopped. Lucas crossed his fingers and stayed where he was, his breathing getting heavy and shaky. He heard footsteps, and they were coming right for him. He pulled his hand out of his jacket once again; this was his only weapon now. As the footsteps got closer, Lucas decided he needed to attack and catch them off guard. He prepared himself, and counted down under his breath.

" _Three...two...one..._ " He whispered, before letting out his best attempt at a battle cry and jumping out from his hiding spot. The silhouette before him leaped backwards, obviously startled. Lucas ran towards them, ready to attack, but stopped when the flames illuminated the person before him.

"Lucas...!" They cried.

" _Fuel?!_ " Lucas yelled, lowering his hand. Strangely, the fire doused. He didn't pay attention, though, as he was still trying to figure out if this really was his friend or not.

Indeed, it was. Fuel stood there, in a fighting position, eyes narrowed. Lucas was relieved to see his friend, but that subsided when Fuel bared his teeth.

" _We figured we'd find you here._ " He growled. Without any warning, he threw a punch, which Lucas just barely missed.

" _Jesus...!_  Fuel, what're you-"

" _Scum!_  That's what you are! I should'a known!" Fuel shrieked, only getting more violent. Lucas desperately avoided the attacks, but was caught off guard when Fuel swung a leg, knocking him off balance. Lucas fell to the ground on his hands and knees, and quickly rolled to his left to dodge another kick.

"Fuel, what are you  _doing?_  Stop it, I'm your friend!" Lucas pleaded, getting back on his feet.

"You  _were!_  You _were_  my friend! And I can't believe I let you trick me! And Nana!  _Both of us!_ " Fuel accused, backing off. It was only then, Lucas saw Nana. She stood a few feet away from the ruckus, hugging herself. They made eye contact, and Lucas had a brief moment of happiness.

"Lucas..." Nana murmured, taking a step forward.

"Nana..."

The two of them began jogging towards each other, but Lucas was cut off by Fuel grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him to the ground once more. He attempted to pin Lucas down, but Lucas managed to squirm out from underneath him. The two boys continued to wrestle, Nana pleading for them both to stop. Lucas managed to stand up, but only had a moment to compose himself, as Fuel already had him by the collar. Lucas grabbed either side of Fuel's waist and forcefully drove his knee into his stomach, sending him staggering backwards.

" _PK Fire!_ " Lucas cried, hoping his newfound abilities could help him now. As expected, a vibrant flame burst from the palm of his hand. Unsure of how to use it, Lucas simply swung his hand forward. This caused a large mass of flames to jet outward, striking Fuel across the face and chest. He screamed, grasping his burnt cheek.

"My dad was right! You Psychics are all the same!" Fuel snarled, once again lunging at his former friend. Lucas wasn't quick enough this time, as Fuel managed to fasten an arm around his neck in a tight choke-hold. As Lucas felt his air being cut off, the adrenaline began to rush in his body, and he thrashed around as hard as he could in order to escape. Being unable to speak, he couldn't summon his fire. He felt his eyelids begin to flutter, as darkness began to close in, but suddenly found himself being released. He looked behind him to see that Nana had forcefully shoved Fuel off of him.

"Nana, what are you  _doing?!_ " Fuel cried.

" _Stop it!_  Both of you need to stop! Is this really worth killing him over?!" Nana snapped.

Lucas hadn't comprehended her words; all he felt now was anger. With another attack cry, he threw himself at Fuel. With one hand, he gripped his shoulder, and with the other arm, he thrust up his elbow, making direct contact with Fuel's lower jaw. Fuel responded by grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind Lucas' back. A loud crack filled the air, making Lucas' blood run cold. Lucas had to rely on luck. He managed to get a good punch in before the back of his knee was kicked in, causing him to once again fall over. He heard Nana yelling protests.

Lucas looked up and saw Fuel on top of him, hands raised. It took him a while to realize that he was holding something; a weapon. A knife.

Fuel didn't hesitate to bring his hands down and forcefully drive the knife into his opponent's stomach. Lucas shrieked, more at the shock at what had just happened, rather than the pain itself. It was when Fuel pulled the knife back out when the scream was out of pain. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas saw Nana covering her mouth, eyes wide with horror. Lucas convulsed once, before a large amount of blood spilled from his mouth and streamed down the sides of his face. He could only stare up ahead of him as he began to hyperventilate.

Fuel instantly stood up and dropped the bloodstained weapon, frozen in shock, horrified at what he'd resorted to. Sure, he'd brought the knife with the intention of killing Lucas, but now that he'd actually went and done it...

But Lucas didn't die. He only stayed there, on the ground, hands clamped over the wound as he struggled to keep the blood from seeping out.

After a few seconds of silence, a bloodcurdling, heartbroken scream ripped through the air, having come from Nana. She fell to her knees and scrambled to Lucas, lifting him up to gently cradle him. Lucas stared up at her, terrified, convinced that he was going to die. He tried to speak, but all that came out was hysterical nonsense.

"Ssssh...Lucas, calm down, it's gonna be okay...!" Nana assured. As Lucas continued to struggle for breath, he lifted a hand and put it to her face, feeling comfort from its warmth. His hand left a smeared trail of blood. He looked her in the eye, finding a moment of peace. As they continued to hold eye contact, Lucas managed to concentrate, and realized that the voice inside his head was telling him to do something else. Lucas realized that if he was going to stay alive, he needed to leave. And the voice was telling him to do one thing in particular. He took in a deep breath.

" _Nana..._ " He rasped, finding it hard to breath with all the blood in his throat, " _...I have to get away..._ " Nana, unsure of what he planned to do, only nodded.

Lucas took in her face one last time, and raised a hand, with his index and middle finger raised and the others closed. He gently touched his fingers to his temple, feeling a surge of power go through him. He took in another shaky breath,

"...PSI Teleport..." He managed to choke out.

And the world went black.


	2. So Close to Human

Sunlight.

That was the first thing Lucas felt, was the warm glow of the early morning sun.

His eyes drifted open, and his vision focused. It took him a minute to process where he was. When he saw the trees above him, he knew he was in the forest.

" _Forest..._ " He thought, " _Trees...Wind...Night...Dark...Fire..._ " He retraced his steps carefully to figure out why he'd woken up in the middle of the forest. His eyes had begun to close again before it all came back.

" _PSI!_ " He cried out audibly.

The memories of the night before began rushing at him like a freight train. It all came as one big group. The burning, the fever, the fight, the stabbing. No longer under the effects of shock, it all caught up to him. He began to hyperventilate again, the area around him seeming to shrink. His village was after him, and he needed to get out of there.

Suddenly, however, Lucas felt his arms being grabbed.

With a cry, Lucas twisted and thrashed around, in a desperate attempt to escape the grasp of whoever was taking him hostage.

" _Let me go! Let me go! I've gotta get outta here! They're gonna find me, and they're gonna kill me! No!_ " Lucas shrieked hysterically, loosing control of his body. He heard someone's voice, but couldn't make out what it was saying over the sound of his own screams. At this point, Lucas had lost touch with everything around him. That was, until he felt something. As he began to calm down, his breathing slowing and his body falling limp, he felt...a sense. No...he felt PSI.

"That's it...just calm yourself. Nothing to be afraid of here."

The voice he heard was soothing, and Lucas could've sworn he'd heard it before. He didn't know who it belonged to, but he knew it. Come to think of it, he knew the person, too. Just not who they specifically were.

"I have to...I have to get out...They'll kill me, they wanna...kill...me..." Lucas stammered, letting himself relax on the ground. The person let go of his arms.

"No one's gonna kill you." The stranger assured. Lucas could gather that it was a male. This person had an accent that didn't come from Tazmily; he couldn't put his finger on it. This sense of unfamiliarity caused him to panic again. Lucas sat up and backed away, grabbing a stick off the ground and pointing it at the stranger. He got his first look at his face.

The black hair and the dark, caramel coloured skin was what told Lucas this person was definitely not from Tazmily, or anywhere around it. He wore clothing that didn't seem too out of the ordinary, with a white longsleeve shirt and a navy vest, as well as strange looking leather pads on his arms and legs. On his hands were odd, fingerless gloves, with a plate of metal on the tops. The person leaned back, hands raised to defend himself, obviously startled at Lucas' sudden outburst. He locked eyes with him. He had possibly the strangest coloured eyes Lucas had ever seen.

"They're purple." Lucas muttered, lowering the stick.

"Huh?" The person lowered their hands as well, still keep their guard up.

"Your eyes. You have purple eyes."

"Y-yeah, it would seem so."

"I've never seen that before."

"That would make sense, you're from Tazmily..." The other boy shrugged, composing himself. Lucas now saw where they were; a big, sunlit clearing with grass that was oddly flat. The boy noticed his confused expression, "Oh, the grass? Yeah, I pressed it so that it'd be easier to organize things."

"How?"

"Oh, y'know. PSI and the like."

Lucas understood; this boy was a Psychic. That was why he was so familiar to him. Despite that, he still didn't know him at all.

"Who are you?" Lucas asked. The boy smiled.

"Just call me Ness. Whatever feels right." He held out his hand, and Lucas hesitantly shook it.

"My name is-"

"Oh, I know you. You're Lucas."

Lucas' eyebrows knitted.

"How do you...how'd you know that?"

"Hinawa told me."

Ness seemed oddly confident in that last sentence. Lucas eyed him suspiciously, drawing his knees to his chest.

"Um...I dunno if you knew this or not, but...my mom died nine years ago, when I was a kid." He said.

"Oh, I know." Ness nodded, before crawling over to a leather bag that laid on the ground. He began to dig through it, "She told me in a dream."

"Wait, so...my dead mom told you my name?"

"Pretty much." Ness looked up and saw Lucas' puzzled face. "You don't really understand how PSI works, do you?"

"Nothing except for how to make fire."

"Well, here's the deal. Story time," Ness pulled out a matted journal and a folded up map, opening both, "So before you and I were born, my mom and your mom knew each other really well. People in our village said that they were like bread and butter."

"Your village?" Lucas asked.

"Onett." Ness clarified.

"Wait, what? You're from Onett?" Lucas marveled. So it  _was_  real. "My  _mom_  was from Onett?"

"Yeah! Anyways, one day, Hinawa went out to go trade something or other in a different town, but coincidentally, Flint had gone out that same day."

"Dad?"

"Mmhmm. And as fate foretold, or something like that, they met, they fell for each other, and Hinawa went to go live in Tazmily with your father. Three years later, she had you." Ness continued to observe the map, jotting down a few things in and empty page in the journal.

"Wait, she just...left? Just like that?" Lucas asked.

"Yep. You'd be surprised how many people would just... _leave_  for love. Like, just run away." Ness said. Lucas opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Ness continued, "Anyways. Remember how I said Hinawa and my mom were good friends? When you share a strong bond with another psychic, you form a psionic connection. And when you have that, you sense things about the other person that no one else can. But the coolest thing is, if you're both concentrating really hard, you can talk to each other in your  _mind._ "

"Like telepathy or something?"

"Yeah, it's pretty sick. So even when Hinawa left, my mom could still talk to her, even after she died. You can talk to the dead's spirits, as long as you had a psionic connection with them in life. It's  _wicked!_ " Ness exclaimed, "And so when my mom's PSI started to fade when she got older, she passed her connection with Hinawa down to me. Which led to her telling me to come here a few days ago, because your PSI would activate soon, and you'd need to leave Tazmily. So, here I am!"

Lucas stared at him for a few moments.

"So...my mom's ghost told you to come here? Why?"

"You can't expect to survive in this forest all on your own, do you? Especially when you have no idea what's in it? I'm your official guide to Onett." Ness said, smiling.

"Huh!" Lucas crossed his arms, impressed.

"You're hesitant." Ness noticed.

"It's just...how do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know that it's safe for me to go with some...stranger in the woods, who could lead me to certain death?" Lucas asked.

Ness thought for a moment, before perking up, having gotten an idea. He gestured for Lucas to come closer.

"C'mere, I can prove it to you." He said. Lucas obliged, scooting closer. Ness put his hand on the back of Lucas' head, guiding him forwards until their foreheads were touching. There were a few seconds of nothing but quiet, until Lucas could feel that sensation again; the familiarity he'd felt before. He stayed there, marveling at the feeling. It was as if he'd known this boy for ages. Just by that little bit of contact, Lucas could tell that he could be trusted. He could even feel the connection to his mother. He backed away, eyes wide with interest.

Ness backed away too, opening his eyes and giving Lucas a hopeful look. Lucas looked at him too. He sighed.

"Okay." He murmured, "I'll go with you."

Ness grinned, and nodded.

"Great! We've got no time to lose, let's get to it." He said, closing the journal and stuffing it back into his bag. He inspected the map once more, circling one particular location with many other circles already over it; probably Onett.

"Well...alright." Lucas said. He tried to stand up, but felt a sharp pain in his lower stomach. He flinched, and collapsed back onto the ground. "Ouch...! What the hell?" He exclaimed, pulling up his shirt. His heart skipped a beat when he saw bandages wrapped around his torso, and a large, brownish red spot showing through them. He raised an experimental finger and gently poked the area, once again flinching. "W-what?"

"Yep, _that_  was hard to treat." Said Ness, "You got stabbed pretty hard. The blade was really jagged; probably a dagger. How you survived that, I have zero idea." He snickered. Once seeing Lucas' horrified expression, he bit his lip, "...Sorry."

"N-no, it's fine, uh..." Lucas placed his hand over the wound, "You treated this? What'd you do?"

"Oh, you know. Psionics." Ness shrugged off.

"No, like...what did you  _do?_ "

" _With_  Psionics?" Ness asked. Lucas nodded. "Weellll...I found you in the forest. You were alive, and you were awake, but just barely. You had obviously just used Teleport, and that can take a big physical strain on you if you aren't really skilled in PSI. So, I brought you here, and at this point, you had blacked out. As for how I treated it, uh..." Ness hesitated, confused with Lucas' sudden interest, "Nothing much, really. I only used PK Freeze, melted the ice into water, and cleaned the wound. Then, I seared it closed, and placed a healing spell on you." Ness finished. Lucas' eyes widened.

"Seared it? Like, with fire?" He asked.

"Yeah. You were loosing a lot of blood, those bandages wouldn't be enough. So I had to take some more desperate measures. There...might be a pretty nasty scar. Sorry, heh..." Ness nervously said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, it's fine. I'm just glad I'm alive." Lucas gave him a grateful smile, "You...kinda saved my life. Thanks."

"What're fellow Psychics for? Don't mention it." Said Ness, playfully punching his shoulder. "Now. We'd best head out now, if we wanna get to Onett in good time. Are you okay to stand?" He asked. He stood up, holding out his hand to Lucas, who took it and attempted to stand up too. He wobbled for a few seconds, before falling back again.

"I...I can't, my legs...they feel numb." Said Lucas, running a hand on his lower leg. He could only barely feel the touch of his fingers.

"Not to worry! Here, I can carry you." Ness knelt down beside him. Lucas hesitantly approached him, before leaning against his back and fastening his arms around his shoulders. Ness secured his arms under his legs and hoisted him up in a piggyback position. "There! You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm not too heavy, am I?" Asked Lucas.

"Dude, you weigh, like, three pounds. It's like carrying a feather."

"Okay...just tell me if you need a break."

Ness stretched up to try and see the trail, and once he did, he took a deep breath, and began to walk.

"Alright, we should be there in no time!"

* * *

The next half an hour was filled with only silence and the sounds of Ness' footsteps. As he'd promised, the weight of carrying Lucas was barely noticeable. Lucas, who was desperate to get his mind off of things, decided to try and start a conversation.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get there?" Questioned Lucas, looking around at the trees surrounding them as they passed.

"Well, the thing about Onett is that even though it's not too far, you've still gotta go through a lot of crazy shit to get there. We gotta get there before the entrance closes, too." Explained Ness.

"Entrance?"

Flint hadn't said anything about an entrance.

"Yah. You cant expect a village full of Psychics to just be out in the open, can you? Someone placed a concealment spell on the town a long time ago, so that no human could ever find it. The thing is, the spell wasn't done very properly, and now it only opens during certain parts of the year. Every month, it opens for five days at a time. Then, it closes till the next month." Ness sighed, "At least it gets the job done. It's more of a minor inconvenience to us."

"Wow, that's really dumb."

"Right? Anyways, I left the minute the entrance opened, and it took me two days to get here."

"So we've got three more to get there."

"Yep! Three days to freedom."

"What kind of stuff if going on in this forest, though? We can take it, right?"

Ness thought for a moment. "Well, yah, but-"

He suddenly stopped walking, and fell completely silent. Lucas silenced himself as well, biting his lip. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but was too frightened. He felt Ness' grip on his legs tighten. The forest was oddly quiet around them. A single flicker of movement from above alerted both of the boys. Lucas found the courage to lean down and whisper as quietly as he could.

"What's wrong?"

" _We've got company._ "

Lucas nearly gasped; the voice he heard didn't come from Ness. It was Ness' voice, but it came from inside of Lucas' own head. This must've been another psychic ability. But before Lucas had the time to ask about it, he was cut off.

" _Are you okay to stand? One tap for no, two for yes._ "

Lucas tapped Ness' shoulder once, feeling his leg and seeing that was still numb. Ness slowly got to his knees, and pointed to a cluster of bushes nearby.

" _Hide in those, and don't come out until I come get you._ "

Lucas wasted no time; he crawled to the shrubbery and nestled into it's branches. He carefully watched Ness through the leaves, clamping a hand over his mouth to cover his loud breathing. He saw another bit of movement up above. As his heart began to pound, he looked around all over to try and see what Ness was sensing. Suddenly, he saw Ness slowly raise a hand in caution, and a series of blue sparks surrounded it. Lucas watched, entranced. Seconds passed, and Ness continued to observe the area around him. He seemed incredibly unsettled.

Suddenly, Ness spun around just in time to dodge a large, dark shape flying towards him. He skidded against the ground, and looked up. The attacker was a person dressed all in black, but the most notable was the hooded cape and the eye mask over their face. Lucas shivered at their appearance. He could tell that this was another psychic.

Ness' hand once again ignited in sparks, which were more violent this time.

"Dude, again?! Can you gimme a break for like...three seconds? I'm kinda doing something important." Ness exclaimed. The hooded figure said nothing, once again running towards Ness. They presented their own set of powers by clawing a hand through the air, a trail of dark blue flames following it. Ness groaned. "I'll take that as a no."

The stranger threw several blows at his target, each of which were just barely dodged. Ness ran back a few steps and aimed his hand at the person, before a brilliant display of light filled the area. The person was hit by the blast, and staggered back a few steps. They responded by lunging at Ness and grabbing his arm, and pushing him up against a tree. Before Ness had time to get away, he was briefly stunned by a bright flash, and struck by a bolt of energy. Ness grit his teeth against the pain and shoved his attacker away, before leaping back into action.

Lucas watched, both scared and fascinated at the same time. Ness responded to each attack thrown at him with grace and smoothness in his PSI movements, opposite of Lucas' clumsy, amateur ones. The dark opponent was just a bit more skilled than Ness, and was a lot faster than him. Lucas wondered how someone could summon the elements so quickly. The two fighters continued their battle, neither of them seeming to get tired. Lucas flinched when Ness was violently forced to the ground hard enough to leave a divot in the forest floor. He quickly got up and uppercut slashed at his opponent, while performing PK Freeze. The mysterious person just barely dodged, but was still hit by a shower of icy shards. They responded by also using the ice attack, creating a blade of sorts and thrusting it forwards. Ness sidestepped, but was still struck on the shoulder. He stifled a cry of pain as a stream of blood began to seep out of the shallow cut.

Provoked, Ness threw an airborne roundhouse kick, the tip of his boot leaving a trail of flames. Making direct contact with the jaw of the attacker, they were thrown back by the force and slid against the forest floor. Ness ran to pin them to the ground, but was pushed away by a shield that looked like it was made of light. With a groan of frustration, Ness jammed his fist into the shield's surface multiple times until it shattered. The assailant had already gotten to their feet, and sharply elbowed his chest. Ness stumbled back, clenching at his chest and struggling to catch his breath.

"Aw, man...really...?!" He coughed, an alarming amount of blood escaping from his mouth. "You have to bring anti-PSI into this?"

The attacker said nothing, but waved their hand in Ness' direction and sent another blast of greenish blue light, once again throwing him against the tree. The tree's bark cracked at the force of the attack, and splinters of wood scattered. The stranger once again formed an icy blade in their hand, and raised it, ready to end their target once and for all.

" _Ness!_ " Lucas cried. Suddenly finding the strength to stand, he instantly shot up and sprinted to the scene. The attacker only got a brief glance at Lucas before he grabbed Ness' hand and raised two pointed fingers to the side of his head, " _PSI Teleport!_ "

It all happened fast. The world around Lucas vanished for a split second, and the next, he was thrown into the air in a completely new location. Before he hit the ground, he grabbed hold of Ness, who did the same to him, in an attempt to protect each other from possible damage. The pair skidded against the dirt and stopped just before a large tree. They didn't move from their position for another few seconds. It was Ness who sat up first, staring in awe at the area behind them. There was a trail of disturbed dirt where they'd hit the ground, and the trail was lined with blue flames due to the speed. After catching his breath and composing himself, Ness patted Lucas' shoulder.

"L...Lucas, you g-gotta get up..." He stammered, his voice quaking. Lucas slowly opened his eyes, which he previously had squeezed shut. He rose into a sitting position, also staring at the fiery path they'd left.

The two looked at each other, unsure of what to say or do. Ness smiled, half nervously, half terrified. Lucas noticed his entire body was covered in black soot, and his hair was blown back from the force. He guessed that he probably looked the same.

"Holy  _shit!_ " Ness cried, "You totally just saved my ass!" He laughed, probably out of relief. Ness shakily stood up, wobbling a bit, "That...that was insane...You're a beginner in PSI, how the hell did you use  _T_ - _Teleport_ of all things?"

"I d-don't know, maybe it was j-just the adrenaline again?" Lucas stammered. Ness held out his hand, and Lucas gently took it, getting to his feet. He stumbled, falling into Ness, who managed to catch him.

"Whoops," Ness helped him steady himself, "Well! Good thing  _that's_  over." He looked around, "Oh, I know where we are. We can find our way back to the trail in no time."

"Okay, good...I was afraid I'd taken us to the middle of nowhere."

As they slowly regained their balance, they began to walk again. Lucas, still in shock at the sudden attack, had a million questions running through his mind. He decided to start with one.

"Who  _was_  that?" He asked.

" _That_  was the leader of a...I dunno, a tribe, maybe? There's this village in this forest that's really weird; half of it is up on the surface, the other half is underground. They call themselves "Unknown", hence the mysterious black clothing." Ness explained, shrugging.

"And why'd he attack you?"

Ness seemed hesitant on his answer, "Aaaah...well...they don't like me very much."

"Why?"

"I, uh...stole from them."

" _Oh_  my god..." Groaned Lucas, rolling his eyes.

"It was one or two times, okay? They're overreacting." Ness stood up on his tiptoes to try and spot the trail again.

"I mean, I'd be mad if you stole from me."

"Can you try to be on my side, please?" Both boys laughed a bit. Ness continued, "We'll have to be a little careful. They know you're with me now, so keep your guard up."

Lucas nodded and glanced to the side, spotting the small wound on Ness' shoulder. He winced.

"Oh, you're hurt..." He brought up. Ness looked down at the cut, and shook his head.

"H'aint nothin' serious." He replied, raising a hand and performing PK Freeze. A layer of icy crystals spread over his palm, which melted into a small puddle of water. He pressed his hand into his shoulder, wiping off the caked blood and dirt. Lucas watched as he did this with interest.

"How do you do that?" He asked.

"Do what?"

"Use PSI without saying the trigger."

Ness snickered a little bit, to Lucas' confusion.

"First thing you should know about Psionics. It's all based on your mind. It's not the words you say that make it happen, it's what you think." Ness explained, "Just saying something isn't enough. That's like saying...y'know, PK Die, or...PSI...Tax Evasion."

"But it doesn't work if I don't say...you know, PK whatever, or PSI whatever. I don't even know how I figured that out, it was an instinct." Said Lucas. He held out his hand in front of him, "PK Fire."

Nothing happened. He shook his hand a bit, curled his fingers, made a fist, and turned it over. Not a single flame in sight. Lucas' brow furrowed in puzzlement. From the side, Ness only watched with a knowing look.

" _PK Fire._ " Lucas repeated with more force. Again, nothing. He looked at Ness with a 'wait for it' expression. He squeezed his eyes shut and imagined the last time he saw the flames. How they moved like silk in wind when he moved his hand. He imagined the slight heat he could feel from it. He took in a deep breath, before trying again, "P-"

A sudden display of brilliant crimson burst from the palm of his hand, causing Lucas to cry out and fall back. As he sat there on the forest floor, Ness simply watched him with an amused smirk. Lucas looked at his hand, which was once again bearing flickers of fiery light. He smiled, satisfied.

"Aha! You see?" He said. Ness only rolled his eyes and helped him up.

"That wasn't because you said 'PK Fire'. That was because you  _thought_  it. To use PSI means to connect with water, fire, earth, air, and everything else. You don't just make the fire; you _are_  the fire. Just like you _are_ ice, or you  _are_  electricity. When you form a connection with the elements, you can summon them at will. They become a part of you." Ness explained. He took Lucas' hand and placed his own hand on his palm, dousing the flames. "That's PSI."

"...I don't get it." Lucas said. Ness sighed.

"I didn't either, at first. The phrases are only necessary for healing spells and teleportation, otherwise it won't work. Beginner Psychics use them to help concentrate." Ness said. Suddenly, he slowed down a bit. He smiled. "Hey! There's the trail!"

"Huh, that was lucky," Lucas replied, as the two jogged towards the familiar dirt path and began to follow it again.

"Alright, so...now that we're on the path again, we're gonna have to prepare ourselves. Like I said, there's a lot going on in this forest that we have to look out for." Ness explained.

"Like what?" Asked Lucas, concerned. He felt the air was getting colder.

"...Better to see when we get there." Was all Ness said.

* * *

Nearly five minutes later, it had grown so cold that Lucas was shuddering. The sky up above was no longer sunny, rather a dark grey colour, shrouding the forest in an eerie darkness. Ness had one hand raised, having used PK Fire in order to provide a light source. The further the two walked, the thicker a mysterious fog began to grow. Lucas glanced around, nervous. Each tree was vaguely human shaped, giving him a sense of being watched.

Ness suddenly slowed down to a stop, putting a hand on Lucas' arm.

"Look up." He murmured.

Lucas did. Upon glancing up, he saw an odd sight. Right above him, the trees simply blew around in the wind, their leaves rustling. However, a ways ahead of them, the trees were completely still, without a single flutter of leaves to be seen. It was as if the patch of forest before them had completely frozen.

"...What is...?" Lucas whispered, frightened.

"The forest frozen in time." Replied Ness, "I suppose you know of the Psychic War of 1534? This was one of the battlegrounds. It's said that long ago, as the battle was taking place, a witch cast a spell here as punishment for the fighting. The spell forced everybody in this particular battleground to be stuck in endless war. She froze time, basically."

"And we're going  _in there?_ "

"Yes. Now, listen very carefully. It is incredibly important that when we go in there, you don't make a single sound with your voice. Put your hands over your mouth, bite your shirt, do whatever. But speaking in any way breaks the spell, because someone from present day has intruded into the past. Then, we'll be stuck in the middle of the War of '34."

Lucas swallowed. "O-oh, wow, maybe...we shouldn't go in there? Can't we just go around?" He asked.

"We could, but it'd take us an extra day. Trust me, I've been through this forest loads of times. It's way faster to just walk on through." Ness assured, holding out his hand. "It's fine."

Hesitantly, Lucas slowly took his hand, clamping his other hand over his mouth. Ness only smiled, as a way to give him comfort. They slowly began to make their way to the oddly frozen forest. Lucas could even see where it began, due to the lack of movement on the ground as well. Not even the blades of grass or leaves shuddered. He grit his teeth and squeezed Ness' hand as they crossed the border and entered the cursed place.

Instantly, sound disappeared. The only sound was the crunching of dirt underneath their feet. The silence was almost suffocating. Lucas began to hear his own heartbeat. He swore he could hear the blood running through his body. The cold from before didn't even to compare to how unnaturally freezing it was in this place, even though it was the middle of spring. The fog was so thick, Lucas could only see a few feet in front of him. Trees emerged from the haze like sentient beings as they slowly walked. The overwhelming feeling of melancholy was both pleasurable and confusing for Lucas. He looked at Ness, who had a determined, fixed expression on his face, staring straight ahead.

And so, the minutes passed.

Lucas continued on, dreading every moment. He tried to focus on the ground ahead of him, but his eyes kept darting here and there. In his vision, he saw endless movement and shadows. He felt his lower torso begin to sting again. The movement of his walking caused the bandages to shift and rub against the seared wound. He clenched his teeth. The uncomfortable feeling of tight bandages and the slight burning was overbearing. The fog surrounding him made his skin feel damp. His throat began to dry out.

And then, he began to hear things.

It was subtle at first. He couldn't tell what it was; possibly a leaf or the cry of an animal. A small, quiet sound that echoed slightly. He turned to Ness, to see if he had possibly heard it to. However, his expression was the same. Lucas brushed it off, until he heard it again. And again. It wasn't a leaf, or an animal. It was a voice. He wasn't sure what it was saying, or if it was saying anything at all. But he struggled to forget it.

The sound stopped for a while, but his mind began to play more tricks on him. There were now several voices, all whispering things that Lucas couldn't understand. All of them were soft and sad. He realized that he was gripping Ness' hand with extreme force, nearly crushing it. He quickly softened his hold and continued to ignore the voices. They had grown in volume, still remaining whispers. Lucas glanced at his friend again, who still seemed indifferent.

He began to understand the voices. They were still gibberish whispers, but Lucas could tell what they were saying.

They were taunting him.

Endless jeers were thrown at him by the now unbearably loud voices. Were these the spirits that lurked in this forest, or something else? Lucas let go of Ness' hand and covered his ears. Ness glanced at him, eyes wide with alarm. Lucas, however, ignored him. He was too focused on drowning out the terrible noise. He wanted to scream, but he knew he couldn't. Lucas hadn't realized that he'd stopped walking at this point. He felt Ness grab his shoulder and shake him a bit, but he barely noticed it.

_Oh, you're a psychic? You must be disgusted with yourself._

Lucas dropped to his knees.

_Imagine what your brother would think. Oh wait; he's dead._

He squeezed his eyes so tightly, he could see stars.

_And your mother...she did this to you. You wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for her. Maybe it's a good thing she died from that sickness._

Lucas could feel Ness trying to call to him using telepathy, but he couldn't hear him. His fingernails dug so deep into his own skin that he could feel the sticky substance of blood. He desperately bit into his jacket to avoid speaking. No matter what, he could not speak. His chest heaved as he took deep, struggling breaths. Tears streamed down his face. Ness, at this point, had wrapped his arms around him, in an attempt to calm him down.

_Do it, Lucas. Say something. Betray him, just like you betrayed your town. Do it, Lucas. Go for it. Let out all of that emotion. You're a teenager, aren't you? So full of emotions? Best to just get it over with. Come on, even gunshots must be better than this. Do it! You worthless, stupid child! You freak of nature, do it! Surely you'd rather be stuck in the War of '34 than this?! What are you, a coward? Of course you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't have run away from your village. You wouldn't have abandoned them._

At that point, Lucas did something he instantly regretted.

" _No!_ " He shrieked at the top of his lungs.

In an instant, the voices stopped. The world around Lucas was still and peaceful. The sound of silence, at the moment, was the most beautiful thing Lucas' had ever experienced.

That was, until Ness snapped him out of it by shaking him. Suddenly, the silence was replaced with chaos. The ground next to Lucas exploded, showering him with dirt, twigs, and rocks. Terrified, he attempted to get to his feet. He heard a bullet whiz past him. Looking around, he saw a scene of destruction.

" _Lucas!_  Lucas, come on!  _We've gotta get outta here!_ " He cried, struggling to pull Lucas to his feet and performing a shield spell, holding the barrier of light over himself and his friend.

Lucas said nothing, he only grabbed his hand tightly and began to follow him. As they sprinted to escape the endless gunfire, Lucas could see a display of bodies through his blurred vision. The smell of gunpowder and the taste of dirt barely phased him as he desperately ran to leave behind the battle. He looked to his left, and caught a glimpse of the other side of the battle; the Psychics.

For a few seconds, the world went into slow motion.

Each Psychic performed endless amounts of spells and attacks, with speed and grace that not even Ness' skill matched. Their eyes flashed with determination and their faces showed only a will to fight. In that moment, Lucas gained more of a sense of what Psionics were about.

The brief moment of admiration was interrupted by another explosion nearby. Lucas cried out in shock; that one was dangerously close. Somehow, he managed to keep up with Ness, despite his legs pleading him to stop. He knew that at this point, his wound had reopened, as he could feel the blood trickling down his leg. But his stab wound didn't hurt; his leg did. Lucas realized that he'd been shot.

The limb began to give out, but he didn't dare stop. If he died here, it would only satisfy those who wanted him dead. He imagined Lighter in his mind, match in hand, preparing to kill him without hesitation. The vision filled Lucas with enough rage and adrenaline to keep going. Up ahead, he swore he could see the end of the battlefield. It was so close. Just a bit longer.

Another stinging pain and an instant feeling of numbness in his shoulder told him that he'd been struck by another bullet. In his periphery, he saw Ness' face was stained with blood. Lucas pleaded that it was someone else's, and not his own.

Suddenly, Lucas heard on odd whistling sound; he realized it was a projectile, a bomb or canon of some sort. A blast much stronger than the other ones erupted, this time impacting a nearby tree. The bark and leaves instantly caught ablaze, sending crimson flames licking up it's surface. As the tree began to tip over and slowly fall, Lucas and Ness looked at each other, knowing that they could either try and outrun it before it hit the ground, or stop, and be killed by either the tree or the battle. Both of them knew the answer, and both kept going. As the tree continued to fall, the fire spread to other trees in the area, which caught on fire easily. The entire area around them was burning.

Still, they kept onwards. If they ran fast enough, they would just be able to miss the tree before it crashed to the ground. So close. Just a few more seconds. Somehow, Lucas managed to sprint even faster. The growing cloud of smoke began to scratch at his throat and stuff his lungs, but the more he felt like giving up, the more he thought about giving in to Tazmily. That kept him going. He was  _not_  going to give them that satisfaction.

The two had been so focused on outrunning the falling tree, they hadn't realized another was toppling over as well. Ness was the one to notice it first, coming straight for them.

"Look out!" He exclaimed, tackling Lucas to the ground in order to avoid it. The two scrambled back to their feet and continued their trek. But the sudden interruption had delayed them. While the large tree was falling slowly, they wouldn't be able to make it in time. ' _Or..._ ' Ness thought, ' _Both of us can't make it in time._ ' He glanced at Lucas, and made a split second decision. Seconds before the flaming tree hit the ground, Ness shoved his friend away from him, allowing him to escape the tree just before it crashed to the ground.

Lucas rolled against the forest floor for a few feet, before he realized that he'd made it. He quickly stood up. He realized that he was no longer in the battlefield. He had escaped.

"Ness!" He cried happily, "Ness, we made it!" He glanced around, hoping to see him a few feet behind. But strangely, Ness wasn't there. Lucas could only see the fallen tree, which was still burning. After a few moments of confusion, he came to a horrific realization. "O-oh no..." He murmured, putting a hand over his mouth. A sudden sweep of guilt overtook him. Ness had pushed him so that he could escape, but he didn't make it out himself. "Ness!" He called, in an attempt to reach him. He approached the burning tree, and stood up to try and see him. But the smoke and battle from beyond the tree was too overpowering.

Before Lucas could do anything else, the numbness in his leg and arm and the smoke in his lungs became too much. The adrenaline from before had run out. He called out Ness' name weakly one more time, before collapsing onto to cold, soot covered ground and giving into darkness.

* * *

For the second time that day, Lucas woke up not knowing where he was.

"Ness..." He rasped, the memory of his friend being the only thing remaining in his mind. He shifted up into a tired sitting position. Still in an oblivious haze, he looked around him. He was no longer in the forest. Normally, he would've panicked, but the shock from what had happened clouded his mind enough to keep him calm. He was in an odd shelter of some sorts. It seemed to be a hastily made structure, out of stacked bricks and a long sheet of fabric working as a roof. There was a single window working as a light source, but it was bright enough outside that he could see well.

Looking around some more, Lucas could see a few tables and shelves. All of them carried strange objects that Lucas had never seen before. Some things resembling scissors, some odd looking bags filled with clear liquid, and several small knives. What could these be for?

He looked down as saw that he was on a bed. His shoes, shirt, and bag had been placed neatly beside him. The bandages that had previously covered his stab wound were now replaced with new, clean ones. His shot leg and arm had also been tended to. On his head was a damp cloth.

A sudden sound from another room alerted him. He had virtually no time to react, as an unfamiliar person entered the room. Instantly, they made eye contact. This person was a girl. She had short golden hair and blue eyes, similar to Lucas. Her eyes were wide, surprised that he was awake.

"You've awoken." She murmured softly. Her voice was cracked and weak, as if she hadn't used it in ages. Lucas, unsure of what to do or say, only nodded. The girl approached him, "Does it hurt?" She asked.

Lucas guessed she was talking about the wound on his stomach. He shook his head.

"How about the bullet wounds?" The girl continued.

"They're okay." Replied Lucas, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat to try and get rid of the scratchiness, but nothing worked.

"Ah, hold on..." The girl said. She quickly went to one of the shelves and pulled down a large, ceramic jar, as well a grabbed a wooden spoon. She sat down on a chair next to Lucas and stuck the spoon into the jar, scraping out a yellowish creme colored substance. Once there was a large amount collected, she handed it to Lucas, "Eat it."

"What is it?" Lucas asked, hesitantly taking the spoon.

"Honey. It's opaque because it came straight from the hive. It helps with your throat after breathing in too much smoke." Replied the mysterious girl. Lucas eyed the spoon once more, before reluctantly eating the honey. The sweet taste did indeed mask out the taste of soot, and the burning in his throat ceased. It felt nice to eat at least something after going an entire day without.

"Who are you?" Lucas asked as the girl put the jar back.

The girl paused.

"...A spirit. A presence. An angel. Whatever you'd like to refer to me as." She explained in her eerie voice, "I am a victim of the curse. Stuck, forever, in this forest for eternity."

"You've been trapped here?" Lucas asked, shocked, "But you aren't at the battle. Surely you deserve no punishment."

The girl paused again. She drew in her lower lip and averted her gaze to the floor. "Oh, but I do deserve it. I may not have taken place in the fighting, but I followed the same mindset. I was a nurse during the war," She sighed, "...A human nurse."

Lucas shifted a bit, uncomfortably, "Um...! I...I have to go, I..."

"Fear not, I know you're a psychic." The girl assured. Lucas sat down again, surprised that she'd been able to tell. This had been the first human he'd talked to since leaving Tazmily the day before.

"You don't want to kill me?" Lucas asked, puzzled.

"I'm sorry you were led to think that by my kind." The girl said sadly, "No, I wouldn't dream of killing you. I've left that way of thinking behind me. You still have bones, blood, and a beating heart. We are the same." She sighed, "That mindset is what got me this punishment in the first place."

"Because you hated Psychics?"

"...Yes." The girl continued, "As a human, it's what you grow up believing. In schools, in church...all they ever teach you is to fear them. I grew up repulsed by them; seeing Psychics as creatures."

Lucas leaned forward a bit, "Oh, I understand. See..." He paused, "...I grew up on that too." The girl tilted her head, confused. Lucas continued, "I didn't know I was a Psychic until yesterday. My whole life, I grew up in a human village, as a human. I've been running away."

The girl only nodded, "I see. You made a good choice. So that's why you were in the cursed forest." She guessed. Lucas bowed his head in response.

"Please...may I ask your name?" He asked as politely as he could. He could tell that this girl was very timid, and very tired. He didn't want to frighten her.

"...I haven't said or thought of my name in ages, but..." The girl thought to herself, "I think...was it? Yes. My name was... _is_ , Paula."

"That's a pretty name." Lucas said, with a gentle smile. Paula smiled, for the first time, back. Lucas continued, "I'm Lucas."

"Pleasure." Paula said, tipping her head respectfully, "Tell me, why is it you broke the spell?"

Lucas squirmed, embarrassed. "Well, you see, the voices. They were so loud, they were getting unbearable to listen to. I hadn't realized I had spoken until I was thrown in the middle of the battle." Lucas' voice trembled, remembering the horrible scene. He had expected Paula to respond, but she only stared at him, with a stunned look that worried him a bit.

"You..." Paula whispered, "...You can hear them?"

"The whispering?" Lucas cocked his head to the side, "Yeah, why wouldn't I? I'm surprised I can still hear after all of that."

"No, the thing is...everything here is a shadow of the past, which is why it didn't deafen you. They aren't real. I'm shocked, because...well, you have to possess incredibly advanced magic in order to hear them. People that I've met throughout the years have told me that only a remarkably talented Psychics can go so far as to hear the voices of long gone spirits."

"Hm...Well, that can't be right, I'm not powerful in my PSI at all." Lucas thought to himself. "Possibly a psychological thing."

"Yes, perhaps. The voices in there are spirits; they taunt you endlessly, trying to get you to break the spell and bring them into reality, so that they can try and escape. They never do, of course. I never have. I gave up trying years ago." Paula murmured, voice overflowing with despair. She saw that Lucas was unsure of what to say or how to comfort her, so she changed the subject quickly, "Tell me, are some of the things you learn about Psychics true?" She asked.

"Like what?"

"Like...does getting Psychic powers actually give you a taste for human blood?"

Lucas' heart skipped a beat. He'd forgotten about all the myths and warnings he'd been taught growing up that he could successfully debunk. One of the most widely accepted theories was that Psychics had an unusual appetite, usually craving human flesh or blood. He thought for a moment. Sure, he was hungry, but the thought of tasting blood was both ludicrous and a little bit gross.

"No, I don't think so." He confirmed.

"Okay, good," Paula replied, relieved, "How about the spell they can use, the one that lets them access the water in your body, and let's them control you against your will? Or the one that lets them control your mind?"

"Well, like I said, I only just realized I was a Psychic yesterday. I don't have much information on this." Lucas said. He thought for a moment, before his eyes wandered to his bag beside him. He gasped, "But...I know something that does!"

Paula watched as Lucas bent over to retrieve the bag. He dug around for a while before pulling out something he'd forgotten about; the book. Paula's eyes lit up as he rested the leather bound book on his lap and opened it.

"Wow..." She breathed, "...What's it for?"

"It's a book on PSI. My mom wrote it. She was a Psychic, apparently."

Lucas flipped through the brittle pages. Each section was labeled neatly, and it didn't take him long to find the section labeled 'Moves & Techniques'. He scanned the list, which contained the names of certain moves, as well as included their descriptions.

"Hm..." He hummed, "...Well, I don't see anything about mind or body control." He paused, before turning the page, where the list continued. "Oh! Here."

"Really?" Paula leaned forward.

Lucas nodded and cleared his throat, beginning to read, "'Psychic Necromancy is the act of possessing the body of a deceased person. This is due to the fact that the corpse can no longer think, therefor, their mind is exposed and vulnerable. Upon using this, you can walk and talk in the body of the victim. Often used in the 1400s to commit crimes, so that the investigators would be thrown off."

Paula's eyes grew to the size of the moon, and her mouth fell open, "You're joking! That isn't real!" She exclaimed, "Give me that," She reached forward and took it from Lucas, inspecting the pages. "That's gross." She muttered, realizing that Lucas had been telling the truth.

Lucas laughed a bit at her disgust. Paula continued to read the list of techniques, her eyes sparkling. She obviously had a great interest in Psionics. Suddenly, Paula gasped.

"So it  _is_  true...!" She whispered.

"What is?"

" _This._ " Paula turned the book around, pointing to one section, "It's been said that some Psychics are so powerful, they can pull stars from out of the sky, to come crashing into the Earth below. I always thought that was too far fetched. But it really can be done."

Lucas took the book into his own hands and read the section. As Paula had said, there was indeed the ability to pull the spots of light from the night sky. He shivered. These were the things he'd been taught to fear growing up. Paula gazed admiringly at the book, then at Lucas.

"Imagine." She purred, "Maybe one day you'll be strong enough to do this." She handed the precious item back to Lucas, who put it back in the bag.

"Oh, I doubt it. See, I've been debating something recently. I've been wondering...if there was a way to get rid of PSI." Lucas explained. Paula stared back at him in shock.

"Get rid of it?" She asked, "Why on Earth would you consider that?"

"Psychics are...are _vile_  creatures. That is what I was taught. Everyone was right; PSI is nothing more than bad luck. Look at where it got me. If it weren't for PSI, I'd still have a home. I'd still have a family. It's a curse, and I want nothing to do with it." Letting out his anger calmed Lucas down. He saw that Paula didn't looked surprised; she looked somewhat disappointed.

"I...I suppose it's your choice." She murmured, confused by his remark.

Lucas was about to say something, but what cut off by a distant thud in another room, and to his surprise, a frightened cry. Paula instantly stood up, alarm on her face. Lucas was about to stand up, but was reminded of his injury by the piercing sting.

"What was that?" He asked, stunned.

"That must be my other patient. He's probably woken up. I found the both of you in the forest while I was fetching some lavender..." Paula explained, rushing to gather some supplies, before taking off. A few more thumps came from down a nearby hallway.

"You can't keep me trapped here forever! I'll rip this place apart brick by brick if I have to!"

The muffled yells of another person startled Lucas, but shock quickly turned to a mixture of overwhelming guilt and relief. Ignoring his pain, he got to his feet.

"Ness!" He called. The yelling stopped. A few moments of silence.

"Lucas?" Was the nearly whispered reply.

It was definitely Ness. Lucas instantly began running through the narrow hall, searching every room. He couldn't believe that'd he'd completely forgotten about Ness. He heard hurried footsteps, telling him that he was searching for him too. There were a few seconds of chaos, as the two tried to locate each other, accompanied by the desperate pleas from Paula, asking them to sit down before their wounds reopened.

When Lucas finally turned a corner and caught sight of Ness, who spotted him at the same time from the end of the hallway, they wasted no time rushing to each other. Overcome by relief to see him, Lucas threw his arms around Ness and buried his face in his chest. Ness, who hadn't been expecting the sudden hug, stumbled back a few steps.

"Wup..." He stammered, catching his balance. His nervous eyes turned to thankful ones. He returned the hug, grabbing on to Lucas as if he was a precious item. "Thank the lord above...!" He murmured, his words slightly muffled by the blond's hair, before quickly pulling away and looking him up and down, "What did she do to you? Look at you, you're all scratched up." Ness muttered, inspecting Lucas, fussing like a mother would with a child. Lucas sadly noticed the bandages on his arm, as well as a few gauze patches on his forehead and cheek.

"Ness, it's fine. She helped us. Probably  _saved your life_ , after what went on." Lucas said sternly, jerking his head to the shaken nurse. Ness glanced at her, bewildered, before sighing.

"Thank you. Sorry I thought you kidnapped us." He reluctantly said. Paula bowed her head respectfully. When Ness turned back to Lucas, he saw that he was staring down at the floor, hiding his face. He furrowed his brow, concerned, "Lucas? What's wrong?"

Lucas didn't answer at first. He only shamefully looked down at the floor. It was when he sniffled that Ness realized he was crying. Ness placed his hands on his shoulders gently, but before he could ask about it, Lucas spoke.

"...You don't have to stay with me, if you don't want to." He said, voice broken and shaky.

"What?"

"I understand if you want to leave...I-I...I didn't mean to break the spell, honest! And then you saved me, and...! You didn't have to do that! I thought you died, I was so scared. It's just, there were these  _whispers_ , and they were so loud, and they were talking to me, and-" Lucas' speech grew in both volume and speed, but he was cut off when Ness suddenly hugged him again. Lucas froze, surprised for a few seconds, before relaxing.

"Don't start, alright?" Whispered Ness, "You're mother sent me to be your protector. I made a promise to her that I would defend you. And who cares if you spoke? I sure don't, because I'm still alive.  _You're_  still alive. It takes a lot more than a battle to take  _us_  down."

The subtle hint of amusement in his voice was soothing to Lucas. He knew that any argument he made would be shot down by Ness' stubborn attitude, so he didn't bother answering. For now, he just savored the feeling of his friend's heart beating, and breathed in his spruce-like scent.

"You two must be very long time friends. Apologies, I didn't realize." Paula remarked, turning away. Lucas rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ehhh...not exactly. We've known each other for...well, what time is it now?" He asked. Paula looked out of the window and up at the sky, which was still a dark cloudy grey.

"Hard to tell, but late afternoon, I'd say." She answered.

"Then me and Ness have known each other for no more than twenty or so hours. We met this morning at dawn." Lucas admitted. Paula's jaw dropped.

"And yet you greet each other like family!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, Psychics take a bit less time to make good friends. It's because of the mental connection you share. I already consider Lucas a good friend of mine." Ness explained, patting Lucas' shoulder. Lucas smiled back at him, which was enough to show Ness that he felt the same way.

"Paula," Lucas began, "I want to thank you again for saving both of our lives. You make a fine nurse. I'm sorry you must stay here."

"Oh, it's not so bad." Paula shrugged, "You two are very interesting boys indeed. I won't forget you any time soon. I'm guessing you want to be on your way? You are well enough to travel, I'm sure."

"Absolutely, we haven't much time to spare," Lucas said, walking bad to the bed to put on his shoes and shirt. He approached Paula again, holding out a hand.

Tentatively, Paula reached forwards. She seemed to hesitate, before finally joining hands with Lucas, shaking it. Her content expression turned shocked, however, as a sudden bolt of energy raced through Lucas' body and stung slightly. With a cry, he stumbled back. Paula did the same.

In an instant, the room, and even the sky outside seemed to go dark. It was gloomy for no more than a second, before an odd pink glow lit up the room, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Lucas saw that Paula's eyes were wide open, but he couldn't tell if it was out of fear, shock, or something else. With a racing heart, he looked to Ness. Surely this had something do to with PSI, for he recognized the aura surrounding all of them. Ness' eyes were also wide, but his expression was readable. It was a face of a mix of delight, curiosity, and anticipation. Lucas realized that Ness either knew what was about to happen, or was accepting the unknown.

It didn't take long for Lucas to realize where the pink light was coming from. It emitted from his own chest, where his heart was, and from the palms of his hands. He stared down at himself, puzzled. A slight wind began to pick up, despite there being no wind outside. The wind grew in strength, and it soon became strong enough to nearly knock Lucas over. The three of them stayed silent as the chaos continued. Lucas felt another surge of energy, but this time, it was not painful. The surge went up his legs, down his arms, and rested at his finger tips, which he had splayed out in front of him. The glow at his hands grew, and to his surprise, several streams of the same pink light began to trail from his fingers like vines. They twisted and tangled through the air, slowly making their way towards Paula.

Lucas was too frightened to move, even though his instincts told him to. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he begged that whatever it was, it wouldn't hurt the girl. However, his fear was broken when Ness suddenly let out an excited yell.

"Ha _haaa!_   _Yes!_  I knew you were special! _I knew it!_ " Ness cried, pumping a fist into the air.

Just as the tendrils of light reached Paula, they slowly absorbed into her chest. As the last vine disappeared beyond the fabric of her apron, everything stopped. The light faded, the wind stopped, and everything seemed to return to normal. The Psionic magic had left a slight glow on Paula's chest, the area still sparkling with magical fragments. Lucas stayed in his position, not daring to move, until Ness shook him out of it. Lucas slowly walked towards Paula, who was breathing heavily. She seemed different.

"P-Paula?" Lucas breathed, stunned at what had just happened. The roaring of the wind still echoed in his ears.

"You..." Paula whispered. Lucas noticed with wonder that her skin had turned a healthy shade of honey rather than it's previous pale gray. Her hair was no longer rough and tangled, rather, it was neat and golden blonde. And her eyes; they possessed a sparkle in them that wasn't there before. Paula took a moment to compose herself. Lucas feared that he'd done something to her, but that went away when a huge smile crossed her face. This didn't look like a weak, forced one. The was a genuine, blissful smile, "...You've freed me!" She cried.

"Wha...?" Lucas wondered. Paula ran forwards and grabbed his arms, staring intently into his eyes. Her now enthusiastic nature highly opposed her previously monotone, dull one.

"You've released me from the curse! I can feel it! You've brought me into the present. I'm free to wander, and do as I please! I'm no longer stuck here, thanks to you!" She exclaimed. Out of joy, she grabbed Lucas' faced and kissed his cheek. "Thank you! Thank you, thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"U-um..." Lucas sputtered, face red, as she hugged him tightly. He cast a dumbfounded look at Ness, who was grinning uncontrollably, "Heh...you're welcome?"

"Anything you want, anything you need, I'll give it to you. I owe you my entire life!" Paula insisted.

"Oh, no, that won't be necessary-" Lucas began, but Ness cut him off.

"Actually, we would like to take you up on that. Could you maybe lead us to the end of this place? Also, is there a possibility you have any medical supplies you'd be willing to spare?" Ness asked hopefully.

"Oh, of course. Since I'm not needed here anymore, I can give up all of this." Paula explained, rushing to practically shove everything off of the nearby shelves and present it to the boys.

"Whoa! Too much, um...you know what? We'll take this, this, and this, but the rest you can toss. Thank you." Ness said, taking a roll of bandages, rubbing alcohol, and a tourniquet.

"As you wish, as you wish..." Paula said, dumping everything else on the bed, as it was now useless to her, "Let's go, I can lead you out of here."

Upon walking outside, Lucas saw that the sky was no longer grey, but now an eggshell blue. The area behind them was still shrouded in the dark storm clouds, however. Lucas guessed that whatever spell he performed had only affected this area. He breathed in the sweet outside scent, satisfied to finally have clean air in his lungs. Paula ran out into the clearing the shelter sat in and spun around in several circles, arms held up to the sky.

"I forgot how nice this feels!" She cried, her voice carefree. As she marveled at the newly transformed world around her, Ness approached Lucas from the side. He nudged him slightly.

"You're  _amazing._ " Ness murmured, his voice still full of admiration.

"What do you mean? I don't even know what I did!" Lucas looked back down at his hands, unable to believe that such powerful magic had come from them.

"You know what you just did? Something I've only seen in books. You just performed PK Love." Ness said.

"PK what now?"

"PK Love. It's the most advanced PSI move there is to date, next to Starstorm," Ness explained. Lucas guessed that was the spell he and Paula had read about earlier, "It's incredibly rare. PK Love can defeat even the strongest of non-psychic magic. That could've possibly been why you heard spiritual voices in the forest."

Even after Ness finished, Lucas continued to sit in silent shock. Surely, there must've been a mistake. How could someone like him perform an incantation so complex, so powerful? He wondered how on Earth he'd done it. Still, he felt a sense of pride. Ness' praise raised his confidence.

"Hey, spaceouts! Don't leave me hanging!" Paula called from a few metres away.

"Let's go." Ness murmured. Lucas only nodded, and they began to walk.

It didn't take long for Paula to successfully lead them to the end of the cursed part of the forest. Once they reached the border (distinguishable by the presence of a magical aura), Paula hesitantly reached out a hand, seeing if she could truly pass through. Once seeing that her hand was unharmed, she stepped fully into the non affected forest. She cried out in happiness and victory.

"Oh, Lucas! This is what you've done for me! The sun is so warm! The air smells so nice! As I said, if there is anything you need, send me one of your Psychic telepathy message thingies, and I'll be there in a flash." Paula assured, taking Lucas' hands.

"You could come with us, now that you're free." Lucas suggested.

"Thanks, but no. I want to travel, see what I've been missing." Paula said, "I'll never forget you, Lucas. You will always be in my heart. You too, Ness. I wish you the best of luck on your journey." She watched as the two waved goodbye and began to leave, but she spoke again, "Oh, and Lucas?"

Lucas turned. She approached him and hushed her voice.

"Please reconsider your choices. I know it's hard to accept your powers, but...from what I've seen today, you're very talented." Paula whispered to him.

"...I will. I must be off." Lucas assured. He'd said it with uncertainty, but it seemed to satisfy Paula, as she waved one final time, and took off. She disappeared into some other part of the woods, and soon, her footsteps faded out. Lucas watched the spot she'd previously been in seconds ago. "...She's gone."

"You really helped her a lot, Lucas." Ness said, "You wanna get going? The trail's just over there."

Lucas, still dazed at everything that had happened, slowly nodded and turned back around. "Yeah. Let's go."

And with that, the two continued on their trek.

* * *

After the incident at the cursed forest, Lucas stayed particularly close to Ness' side. He felt an odd need to protect him. While he knew Ness was a very powerful person, Lucas couldn't help but hang around him like a bird to an egg.

The next few hours of only walking was spent with endless talking, as opposed to the previous time they'd walked together on this trail. Lucas found it less awkward to talk to his escort now. He'd taken a particular liking to him. Ness had a funny way of conversing, switching from one topic to the next in a heartbeat. He talked a  _lot._

" _He talks almost as much as Nana did..._ " Lucas thought, bittersweet about the memories of his former lover. His thoughts had been disturbed when Ness suddenly trailed off of his current speech, and stopped walking. Ness was looking at him, half concerned, half content.

"You're limping. Wanna take a break?" He asked, stretching his right arm to the opposite side.

Lucas hadn't realized that he was putting all of his weight on to his unharmed leg. He hadn't noticed how numb his injured left leg was.

"Actually...yeah. Maybe five or so minutes." Lucas suggested. Ness scoffed.

"Um, no. Look at the sky, genius." He said, pointing up. Lucas obliged, and realized that it was pitch black with a slight sprinkle of stars. He hadn't realized it was nighttime. "It's late. We've walked enough today, and it's pretty flat here. Let's camp out here."

"I was wondering why you were using PK Fire for so long. It would've been pretty dark if you hadn't." Lucas smirked, sitting down on the cold leaves below. It was freezing, but it felt wonderful to sit down and rest his legs for the first time in hours. Ness snickered and set his things down beside Lucas; his other hand was holding a single, steady flame.

"Yeah, but I can't hold it for much longer," Ness explained, dousing the light with a flick of his wrist, "You stay here, I'm gonna go get some sticks and some wood, can you make a little circle of rocks, and brush away any leaves in this area?"

Figuring he wanted to make a firepit, Lucas nodded. In the brief time Ness left him alone in the darkness, Lucas felt slightly on edge. Being alone now was terrifying for him. However, Ness wasted no time in coming back, arms full of tinder. Within five minutes, the makeshift fire pit had been finished.

Ness snapped his fingers a few times, tiny sparks flying from his fingers each time he did so. Finally, at one point, a tiny, pointy flame ignited over his index finger, and he instantly brought it to the wood tipi he had built in the middle. Within seconds, the fire engulfed the branches, and after some fanning, it grew into a steady blaze. Ness, satisfied, scooted over beside Lucas to share body heat. Both of them just stared into the whirling pattern of the flames for a while.

"It's funny..." Ness suddenly whispered, his voice oddly solemn, "...Here we are, using fire for survival, when it nearly killed us earlier today."

"I don't understand it. Fire's confusing to me. Why make something that can keep you alive, then turn around and make it deadly at the same time? It just doesn't make sense." Lucas replied. Ness sighed.

"See, Lucas, there's why you're having trouble with your PSI." He pointed out, "In order to use fire, you need to understand and connect with it. If you don't, then you're helpless."

"How did you come to understand it? I can't figure this out." Lucas explained, frustrated.

"You've had your powers for a day, chill. But if you really wanna know, think of it this way." Ness searched around, before finding a stick on the ground, "Take this, for example. It's keeping us alive right now, by feeding the fire. But what would happen if I shoved it through your heart?"

Lucas recoiled slightly, stunned at the violent question, "Well, I'd die. Duh."

"Exactly. How about this rock? The rocks are keeping the fire from spreading, but if I were to throw this at you at breakneck speed, you'd also probably die." Ness continued, "It's the same for everything. Water is necessary for us to live, but we can drown in it. Food also keeps us alive, but sometimes, it can poison us. Everything around us, the trees, the air, the dirt, goes both ways. It's a spectrum, ranging from convenience to inconvenience. That's life. That's the elements." He hushed his voice, taking Lucas' hand in both of his own and looking him in the eye, "That's PSI." He repeated his phrase from earlier that day.

Lucas took in his words carefully. Something just barely clicked in his mind.

"So to understand fire..." He trailed off.

"...You need to realize it's pros and cons, and come to understand each of them. Yes, it burns us and fills out bodies with smoke, but at the same time, you and I could've be freezing to death right now, and I probably wouldn't have been able to heal your stab wound if it weren't for this...weird little element." Ness finished, sticking his hand into the swirling flames and moving them at his will, using PSI to swerve them around.

Lucas stared at the fire, enraptured by it's stunning, hypnotizing movement. But to his frustration, he couldn't seem to connect.

"Still? Nothing? You looked like you got it there for a second." Ness said, disappointed.

"No, but it's...fine. It's just...Ness, there's something I talked about with Paula, and I'm not sure you'll like it. I want to ask you a very important question." Lucas said.

"Anything, sure." Ness replied.

Lucas took a deep breath, unsure as to how Ness would react, "Is there a way to...to get  _rid_  of PSI?"

Ness blinked, before snapping out of his trance. "U-um...wow, I wasn't expecting that. Lucas, why on Earth would you wanna get rid of it?" He asked gingerly, already knowing why.

"Well, Paula didn't believe me, but I think it brings bad luck. Look at all the shit that's happened to be every since it activated. It's a  _curse._ " Lucas said, a hint of bitterness in his tone. He realized he probably shouldn't have worded it in that way, upon seeing the hurt look on Ness' face.

"You think PSI is bad luck?" Ness murmured. Lucas hadn't meant to offend him. He instantly regretted his words.

"No, not PSI itself!" Lucas clarified, "...I'm only talking about mine specifically. If I show up back in Tazmily with no PSI, they'll accept me again, and love me again." He explained. Once again, he came to the realization that he'd chosen the wrong words to say, as Ness looked even more heart struck than before.

"Lucas...don't take this the wrong way, but..." Ness paused, "Do they  _really_  love you?" He asked.

"What?" Lucas breathed, taken aback by the question, "Of course! As long as I go back as a human again."

"If they only love you for being a certain way, are they truly worth being around? People who can't love you for who you are?" Ness challenged. He knew he was pushing, but PSI was a big part of his life, and he'd defend it in any way he could.

"I-I...um..." Lucas looked down again, thinking, "Well..."

"Lucas, listen. I know it can be difficult to come to terms with stuff like this, But PSI is my entire life, and I won't let you call it bad luck." Ness stated, making sure Lucas heard the offense in his voice. He took away the harsh edge, and added on, softer this time, "I know how hard it is to accept yourself. Sometimes, our minds do crazy things, and we hate ourselves for it."

"Do you ever get mad at yourself?" Lucas asked.

"Of course I do, all the time."

"But you're so confident!"

Ness laughed a bit, "Well, yeah. But sometimes, my instinct will tell me to do something stupid, I'll do it, and I'll spend forever just yelling at myself. There's a difference between forgiving yourself and loving yourself, dude. Lucas, I'm gonna ask a personal question. You don't have to answer, but if you choose to, I want you to be completely honest. Realize that there's no one here but me."

Lucas, somewhat nervous for what he was going to ask, only nodded.

Ness looked him sincerely in the eyes. "Do you love yourself?"

Lucas was caught off guard. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. There was no use lying; Ness was obviously capable of knowing if he was telling the truth or not. He opened his mouth to answer, but found himself unable to say anything. He felt his eyes begin to sting, and his face growing hot. Gripping at his jacket, he turned away from Ness, who gave him a sympathetic look. Lucas didn't need to speak; he knew the answer. As Lucas silently cried to himself, Ness put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at the sky.

"It's easy to hate who you are." He murmured, letting his gaze cross the star covered sky. "It's _too_  easy. But you can't let that win."

"W-well, what do  _you_  know?" Lucas replied, a hint of sourness in his voice, "You _knew_  you were a Psychic. You didn't have to go through this. You didn't have to deal with hating yourself." He instantly regretted those words. Ness hadn't replied, or shown any type of aggression, but Lucas could easily see the brief flash of hurt on his face. "T-that was...I shouldn't...I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"No, it's really not...I didn't mean to snap."

"You were upset, I shouldn't have asked you that." Ness admitted. His voice suggested he'd forgotten Lucas' assumption, but his face said otherwise. Lucas decided to let it pass. Ness sighed, and spoke again, "I can't imagine what you're going through, with your village and what happened."

Lucas flinched at the painful memories, but chose to let them flow. Ness continued to speak.

"I don't blame your hatred for PSI. I mean, you were raised to believe it was some kind of disease."

Lucas didn't answer.

"Why do people hate us?" Ness asked. He sounded genuinely curious, and his voice had a sad undertone.

"Well, I only hate Psychics because my elders told me to. But...they hate it because they think PSI just doesn't belong. The only beings allowed to create and control the elements are the whoever made it. When you use PSI, you're toying with nature. You're trying to play god. You have a human body, but not human limitations. That's what I was taught." Lucas finished. Ness looked at him as if he'd sprouted wings.

"Do you believe that?" Ness asked.

"...Not really." Admitted Lucas.

Ness paused.

"Do you hate  _me?_ "

Lucas' eyes grew in surprised, "Of course not!" He promised. Ness narrowed his eyes, before holding up a hand, which began to glow a subtle blue, and icy fractals spread over it. A puff of frozen mist surrounded his hand.

" _Now_  do you hate me?" Ness repeated.

Lucas saw what he was doing. He sheepishly avoided eye contact, "...No."

And Ness left it at that. He smiled, before standing up.

"I'm gonna go get more wood." He said. Lucas didn't watch him go, as his footsteps slowly faded away.

Lucas sat alone once again. He thought long and hard about what had just happened. He didn't hate Ness. He thought back to the Psychics he'd seen back in the cursed forest, how they fought with the intensity of the flames that burned around them. He was part of them now. He wondered about the connection he had to share with the elements in order to control them at will. Maybe if he understood, then...

He stared intensely at the small, but still burning fire before him, once again being enraptured by the swirls. Taking a risk, he hesitantly moved his hand towards it, just as Ness had done. Somehow, he knew it wouldn't burn him, as long as he understood it...Just a bit further. He continued to inch his hand closer and closer, and stopped just before he made contact.

With a deep breath and crossed fingers on his other hand, he gently stuck his hand into the flames. He flinched, waiting for a searing pain. But all he felt was warmth.

Lucas gasped slightly. He understood, now. Fire was life and death, as was everything. It existed in the same never ending cycle of living and dying. Feeling a wave of energy and power, he began to wriggle his fingers. The crackling flames moved along with his hand, twisting and bending at his will. Slowly, Lucas stood up, raising both hands out in front of him. As he began to circle the fire pit, he focused as hard as he could on it.

Taking long strides, one step at a time, he began to move his arms to the left. The fire obediently swerved to the left. Lucas smiled, moving his arms to the right. Again, the flames followed.

" _How powerful_ am _I?_ " He thought. His instincts had told him what to do before, and they were telling him to raise his hands up. Taking a deep breath, Lucas thrust both of his hands into the sky, stamping a foot for an extra push.

The fire instantly exploded into a whirl of crimson streams, snaking it's way through the air and branching off into spiral patterns. His eyes reflecting the wondrous display of light, Lucas stared up in amazement at what he'd created, mouth open in wonder and shock. He continued to gracefully make his way around the clearing, controlling the flames with smooth movements of his legs and hands.

Finally, he threw his arms out to the side, wishing for the flames to douse. The fire blew away into the forest around him, but did not burn the trees. It faded away like smoke. Lucas stood, stunned and silent, in the dark. The only sound was his heavy breathing. He glanced down at the now doused fire pit. He knelt down, and held out his palm in front of him. In his mind, he beckoned for fire.

Silently, a small, young flame ignited. No sparks, no sudden blast of force. Lucas quietly lit the firewood, before shaking the flame away. He stared at the flickering lights. He felt the same Psychic connection he'd felt with Ness earlier that day, as if he was connecting with a living being.

He heard a single rustle of leaves. Lucas already knew who it was. Without looking up, he knew that Ness hadn't gone to get wood; he'd watched the whole thing. Lucas glanced up to meet his eyes, which were soft, and even had a hint of pride in them. Ness gave him a small grin, standing with his weight on one hip, with his hands in his pockets. Lucas, without making a sound, stood up as well, to face him.

"I've always seen PSI as a freak of nature..." Lucas murmured, daring to break the silence, "...But now...I think it's a wonder of it."

"Then you're already halfway there." Ness replied. Lucas smiled warmly.

* * *

The thumbnail moon was at it's peak in the sky when Lucas was woken up by a nearby squirrel's cry. He sat up from his makeshift bed, made from a blanket and his jacket. The fire was weak, but still burning. He aimed a hand at it and fed it some more flames, dropping a few pieces of fire wood in as well. He mentally congratulated his newfound ability.

Lucas thought about going back to sleep, but the thought of going to sleep and waking up back in Tazmily terrified him. This, mixed with the need to protect Ness, motivated him to stay awake. He glanced at his friend, who seemed completely blacked out. Lucas watched his chest rise and fall a few times. He wondered if he was dreaming at all.

He glanced around, before catching sight of a nearby hill. He saw that beyond the hill, there were no trees. He realized it was a cliff. Careful not to wake Ness, he got up as quietly as he could and walked over to the dip. Upon looking over the side, he saw that a long river lay before him. Just above it, the moon, reflecting on the water's surface. Lucas breathed in the crisp night air and sat down on the ledge, letting his feet drape over. His tired eyes scanned the water for any movement, but it simply swayed and fell peacefully.

' _This must be the river that winds through Tazmily..._ ' He thought, pressing his lips into a thin line, ' _This looks like the cliff edge near my old house._ '

He was suddenly reminded of the previous night, when Nana had come up to meet him and admit her love towards him. Lucas found himself smiling, as he remembered her face. He remembered her sweet scent and her soft voice. Strangely, he couldn't feel the urge to cry. It seemed that all of his tears had been used up. For now, all he could do was happily remember her.

' _And now I have nothing left of her..._ ' He sadly thought, ' _...And I never got to give her ribbon back..._ '

Suddenly, he remembered the ribbon. He quickly stuffed a hand into his pocket, before sighing with relief, feeling his fingers latch on to a soft, silky object; the hair ribbon that Nana had dropped. He pulled it out and looked at the red strand, holding on to it for dear life. He let out a pleased, but mournful sigh. This was all he had of her for now. He wondered if Nana missed him. Did she hate him, like the rest? Or did she never forget their bond? The last time he'd seen her, she looked terrified for his life. He let that thought warm him.

But then again, what would happen when Fuel told the other villagers about Nana seemingly caring for him? He prayed to whoever was up there to keep her safe. She was tough and strong, but she couldn't defend herself against Lighter. Nana was one of the best stickfighters in the village; she used the wooden poles like she was born with one in her hand. Lucas remembered a happier time, when the two were in the same combat lesson, and she'd nearly knocked the wind out of him multiple times. He laughed softly, savoring the memory.

He stared up at the moon above. "Keep her safe." He whispered.

"Keep who safe?"

Lucas gasped, startled, and whipped around. Of course, Ness was there. Ness backed up a few steps.

"Yikes, sorry...! I can go, if you were...?" Ness assured, jerking his thumb back to the camp.

"No, no, it's okay. I wasn't tired." Lucas said, patting the spot next to him. Ness shrugged and walked over, before plopping himself down next to him. Lucas raised an eyebrow, "When did you wake up?"

"Just now, I felt your aura darken. You're sad. I thought I'd come talk to you."

Lucas smiled gratefully. "Just thinking about home." He said.

"I see. Who's 'her?' And what's that?" Ness pointed at the hair ribbon, his eyes gaining a mischievous glint. Lucas' face flushed, and he turned away.

"No one!"

"Is it a  _girl?_ " Ness smirked, his voice and face equally smug.

"No!"

"What's her name? Was she pretty?"

"No and no, there is no girl." Lucas insisted. He and Ness stared at each other for a while. Ness kept his teasing expression.

"So you're saying she  _wasn't_  pretty?"

"No, she was pretty, it's just that-"

"Aaa _hah!_ " Ness cried, pointing at him. "There  _is_  a girl!"

Lucas quickly began to stammer a protest, but soon found that it was useless. He pouted. " _Fine!_  Yes, there's a girl."

Ness' eyes softened a bit, but there was still a gleam of amusement. "Well, is she  _your_  girl?"

"...Heh, um..." Lucas shrugged awkwardly a bit, rubbing the back of his neck, "...Yeah. Yeah, she's my girl." He paused, and his eyes clouded with melancholy, "...Well...at least...she  _was._ "

With a sympathetic gaze, Ness let his eyes wander back to the hair ribbon. Lucas' hands were turning white due to how tightly he was holding on to it. Ness looked back up at the moon above them, and squinted against a sudden breeze flying past.

"Y'know..." Ness began, "I don't know much about love, I've never really been  _in_  it, but I feel like a few miles of distance doesn't end it."

"Hm. Well, for someone who 'doesn't know much about love', you seem to have your head in the right place." He punched Ness in the arm affectionately.

Lucas let his hold on the ribbon loosen. After a few moments of silence, he saw Ness turn to look at him in his periphery.

"What's she like?" Ness asked.

"Aw, man...where do I  _start?_ " Lucas gushed, starry eyed, "She has...this  _hair_ , that's just... _pure_  sunlight. Just... this pretty golden hair. She always held it up with this ribbon." He looked down at the hair tie.

Ness only listened, smiling. He found the doe eyed boy's lovestruck demeanor very endearing. His gaze trailed to Lucas' hair, and noticed it was also reminiscent of sunlight. ' _Hm..._ ' He thought.

"And her  _eyes?_  Don't get me started on her eyes." Lucas continued, "Bright blue. There was this thing that would happen when we would sit together sometimes. When she looked up at the moon, her eyes would catch the light, and they just...lit up."

' _Funny...his eyes do the same thing._ ' Ness thought, observing Lucas' own eyes, and noticing the icy blue colour and how they reflected the moon's glow. He smiled, feeling a bit of a warm, tingly feeling in his chest.

"And she was just...so kind." Lucas murmured, "She was sweet, and caring, and...always did what she thought was right. She was always there for anybody. She was smart, too.  _Very_  smart."

' _So is he._ ' Ness smirked. An intrusive thought entered his mind, but he quickly pushed it away. He felt his heart rate pick up speed. ' _Shit...Ness, don't you dare..._ ' He scolded himself.

Lucas was silent for a moment, caught up in his own memories, before snapping out of it, "Oh sorry...Jesus, I didn't mean to ramble."

"N-no! No, it's okay!" Ness assured, snapping out of his own thoughts as well, "She sounds wonderful." He said quietly.

"She was, in every way possible." Lucas breathed.

"Like y-" Ness trailed on his last word when Lucas faced him with a stunned look, "Yyyy...yyyooouuurrr abilities! Like, wow!" He laughed nervously, struggling to keep his composure. Lucas seemed to buy it, for he smiled.

"My abilities..." Said Lucas, "...Was that move I did today  _really_  such a big deal?"

Ness eye's lit up, "You have no idea. Like I said, PK Love is the rarest move there is. What makes it special is the fact that unlike other Psionic moves, this one is done with your heart, not your mind. Hence the name," Ness explained, his voice laced with wonder, "It's so rare, it's rumored that only around ten to twenty Psychics can actually use it. That's not that many, when you realize that half our world's population is Psychics."

"Gee Whiz," Lucas breathed, not sure how to comprehend the information, "What's it for?"

"That's the hard part. No one really knows the actual use of PK Love. The thing about it is that you can't just...use it, like you can with PK Fire. It comes on it's own, and you have no control over it. But what we do know is that it has the ability to perform miracles." Said Ness.

"Miracles?"

"Yep. Like what happened today. You broke a very advanced spell that's hundreds of years old," Ness continued, "It only works if you hold a strong moment of pure emotional harmony with someone, and you bond in a way similar to the connection I have with your mother. It's incredibly powerful magic; some people have said that if someone dies, you can use PK Love to bring them back to life moments later. Magic that comes from the heart will always be more powerful than from the mind."

"But why  _me?_  I'm nothing special, why do I of all people have this power?" Lucas asked.

"Lucas, you're  _insanely_  special!" Ness protested, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You have this power because life is unpredictable as _fuck_. I'm not much of a believer in any god, but if he's up there, he gave you this power because he knew he'd be putting it in good hands. Listen close," Ness leaned forwards, hushing his voice to a whisper, "Everyone is special, okay? Me included. I'm gonna give you the truth; you'll never be as great as me."

"Wow, thanks." Lucas replied, off put by the unexpected remark.

" _But_ , let me finish," Ness cut him off, "You'll never be as great as me. But you know what? I'll never be as great as you."

"That makes no sense, I-" Lucas stopped, understanding what Ness meant. Upon looking into his eyes, he saw that Ness was being completely honest and sincere with him. He hadn't realized how close up to each other they were. "Oh, I get it..." He whispered, finding himself unable to break eye contact, "You think so?"

"Yeah." Ness replied, "...You're...you're pretty wonderful, in my opinion."

Lucas blinked, utterly surprised, "...No one's ever told me that before." He smiled bashfully.

Ness felt a flutter in his chest. "W-well, I mean it. Really." He replied, praying that Lucas didn't notice how flustered he was getting. He didn't seem to, as he wasn't saying anything. The two boys shared eye contact for another few seconds, neither saying anything. Ness, realizing how he was now feeling towards his friend, gave up trying to resist his thoughts, and let them consume him. ' _I hope he realizes that I mean it..._ ' He thought, ' _He **is**  wonderful. He's all that and more._'

A sudden flicker of light and a quiet popping sound alerted them. Ness gasped quickly scooted back a few feet, while Lucas stared in confusion. Beside Ness, just near the side of his head, were several tiny electric sparks flying in unplanned directions. Ness scrambled to hide them by clamping a hand over the side of his face, but the sparks continued to scatter in the air around him.

"Um...what are th-" Lucas was instantly cut off by Ness.

"Nothing! Nothing, they're nothing! This happens...um...sometimes!" Ness stammered, continuing to try and douse the lights, which stubbornly fizzed about. To his horror, they began to spit from the palms of his hands as well, as he got more and more desperate. "They, uh...don't mean anything!"

Lucas watched Ness for a few more seconds, bewildered, before letting out a small laugh, "Heh, okay? Well, um...I'll let you deal with those, and I'm gonna go back to the camp. I should really try and sleep."

"That is a  _fantastic_  idea! And, also, how about you forget that you ever saw these?" Ness urged, swatting the sparks away from him.

"...I...um...sure, alright. G'night, I guess." Lucas shrugged and waved a bit, before turning away and walking back into the trees.

Ness waved back and kept an eye on him until he disappeared, then fell still. Groaning and turning back to the cliff edge, he allowed the swarm of electricity continue to buzz around him. He simply sat there, chin rested on his hand, pouting. As he waited in the next few minutes, the sparks began to fade, until they finally slowed to a stop. When the last zapping sound ceased, Ness sighed in relief. Looking out at the horizon, he came to terms with what was happening. Upon thinking of Lucas, he would feel another skip in his heartbeat. Knowing he was alone, he let himself think about him. Every so often, a few sparks would shoot around here and there.

He sighed, looking up at the sky.

"So _this_  is what it's like." He murmured under his breath. "I don't even know  _how_  to feel about this."


	3. Something Evil This Way Comes

When Lucas woke again, he was still clutching the hair ribbon. After letting his eyes flutter open, he looked up at the streams of sunlight above, savouring the warmth. He grit his teeth through the pain of sitting up. His wounds hurt a lot more than they did yesterday. He stuffed the ribbon back into his pocket, remembering the previous night. He let out a happy sigh and glanced to his left. Ness was still fast asleep, sprawled out and face down on the ground, in a position that couldn't have been comfortable.

Lucas noticed how quiet it was around him. The forest seemed peaceful and serene. Only a few birds chirped here and there, and the trees rustled softly.

' _Must be pretty early,_ ' He thought, ' _More time to get to Onett, I guess._ '

With a grunt, he hoisted himself up on his feet. After stumbling a bit due to a sudden head rush, he trudged over to Ness; sleeping form. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Lucas gently nudged his friend with his foot.

"Ness," He murmured, yawning, "Y'gotta wake up."

After a few moments of silence and no response from Ness, Lucas nudged him again, harder this time.

"C'mon," He slurred, "Up."

Ness stirred a bit, but only grunted in reply. Lucas frowned, and knelt down. He rolled Ness over onto his back and shook him. Ness' eyes scrunched up, but he stayed where he was.

"We're losing  _time._ " Lucas slurred.

" _S'alright._ " Murmured Ness, taking off his hat and putting it over his eyes. Scoffing, Lucas aimed his hand at the ground beside Ness and concentrated for a few seconds.

Suddenly, the dirt beside Ness burst into the air, propelled by a blast of light. Ness shrieked and scrambled into a sitting position, ducking to avoid the rocks and dust scattering. He backed up against a tree, hands clutched to his chest, heaving to catch his breath. After taking a few seconds to compose himself, he snapped to stare at Lucas with a bewildered look.

" _Dude!_ " He cried.

"I'm sorry, it's daytime, and I'd like to get to gettin'." Lucas teased. He looked down at his hand, which was still twitching with a few sparks, and emitting a small cloud of smoke. "Huh...that's a new one."

"That," Ness began, stretching his arms over his head with a groan of satisfaction, "Is PK Thunder. There's a lot of static in the air; signs that a storm's coming. You probably learned it while you were asleep, judging by that poor tree over there."

Lucas looked in the direction Ness was pointing, noticing a small tree that was charred and broken. He gasped. "Whoa, what?! What happened?"

Ness shrugged on his bag and stood up, "That was probably you. Sleepsyching is pretty common in beginners; I nearly set my house on fire once. It's...y'know...a teenage thing."

"What do you mean? Like, a puberty thing, or something?" Lucas asked, shaking his head to wake himself up fully.

"Kinda. It's like a second puberty. Just...expect stuff like zapping a tree in your sleep to happen." Ness smirked. "And...you know,  _other things_."

"Great. Awesome." Lucas muttered. He rubbed his hands together, and found that there was a clingy static covering each of them. He sighed. He shared a look with Ness, who smiled sympathetically.

"Let's just start walking, yeah? Wake ourselves up. We've got a lot of ground to cover." Ness said. Lucas only nodded.

Once they had packed up and set off on the trail again, the static in Lucas' hands, clothes, and hair was beginning to fade. The time was spent with the same pleasant conversation as yesterday. After only a minute, Ness was already rambling. Lucas didn't mind, though. The strangely smooth accent and raspy voice was soothing to listen to. He noticed that Ness seemed to detour conversations involving anything having to do with Tazmily, or Lucas' life in general; something Lucas appreciated. His mother had obviously made the right choice on who to send. He found himself excited for his new life.

It took him a moment to realize; he knew essentially nothing about Onett. The real Onett, at least.

"Ness?" Lucas began, "Can you tell me what Onett's like?"

"Of course, it's probably a good idea to get to know it," Replied Ness, "Well, first of all, it's huge. Like, Onett is probably the biggest town on the Islands. There's a ton of people. And every single person is a Psychic."

"What does it look like?"

"Just your average village, mostly. Similar to Tazmily. Very different from the next city over."

"...'City?'"

"Oh, right, you probably don't know those. Basically, like...really big villages."

Lucas' mind reverted back to the other night he'd spent with Nana. He remembered the term she'd used; 'big villages'.

"Like the ones with the tall metal buildings, that touch the clouds?" Lucas asked, excited.

"Skyscrapers, yeah."

"Skyscrapers," Lucas whispered to himself, the word feeling strange to say, "And the boxes you can control and travel around in?"

"Cars. They're called cars. I'm learning how to drive one myself, actually. Interesting things," Ness said, "Where'd you hear about cities?"

"Nana. She told me about them," Lucas explained, "We were gonna run away together and find one. Heh...at least one of us got to." He said quietly. After a few moments of silence, Lucas realized that Ness probably didn't know how to reply, so he quickly changed the subject, "U-um...! Anyways...how about where you live? What's that like?"

"Well, like I said, it's a lot like Tazmily, but we're just a bit more upgraded. PSI is basically...how we function. It's our entire lifestyle. Oh, and then, there's the tournament! This thing is worldwide. Basically, it's like...a giant competition with PSI based athletics. There's one every four years, and the next one is being held in Onett! I'm definitely trying out this year. You should too! You're old enough."

As Ness continued to talk about the village more and more, Lucas began to grow quite excited to get there. With all the wonderful things Ness told him about, Onett seemed like a dream come true. He listened intently as Ness went on and on. He began to let his mind dwell on something that he'd only just recently come to think about; how would he fit into Onett?

"Anyways," Ness finished, "I don't wanna spoil all of it for you. It's an amazing town."

"Do you think I'll fit in at all?" Lucas asked. He noticed that Ness seemed to be a little on edge.

"Oh, without a doubt. They're gonna love you, especially when you've got that fancy move of yours under your belt. Onett doesn't actually have another Psychic who can use PK Love."

"Won't that make me stand out, though?"

"Well, in a way, yeah. But in a good way. You'll be fine."

"Do a lot of people know you?" Lucas asked.

"Wellll, not to brag, but I did graduate at the top of my combat class. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't...y'know.  _Well known._ " Ness said. Lucas perked up.

"There's a combat class?"

"Well, duh. Hand-to-hand, weaponry, and Psionics. You seemed to get excited, are you a decent fighter?" Asked Ness, eyeing him from the side.

"I'm...okay, I guess. Tazmily had a mandatory advanced class." Lucas explained.

"Hmmm..." Ness hummed, "Sooo...you learned how to do stuff like...dodge this?"

In a split second, Ness dropped into a crouch and swung his leg in a circle kick, aiming for Lucas' calves. Lucas' quick instincts let him see the attack coming. He dodged by jumping to the side, and following his muscle memory, he set into a fighting stance. Ness stood up and brushed off his clothes.

"Not bad. That was really quick. Can you show me something for a moment?" Asked Ness, "It'll take only a few minutes, then we'll get moving again."

"Um...yeah, okay." Lucas dropped his bag and shrugged.

"Okay. Gimme a combo. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut, flying roundhouse." Ness instructed.

"...Alright?" Lucas, confused, shifted back into his attack stance. With a deep breath, he swiftly threw all four punches at open air, before rearing back and pushing himself into the air, sharply kicking his leg to the sky, before landing safely on his feet. He winced slightly at the soreness in his side, but managed to ignore it. He straightened back up. "There."

"Good, good, you could knock someone out with that," Ness praised, "Okay, if you can, do it again. But this time, use PK Fire. Then, when you extend your leg for the kick, give your best PK Thunder. "

Lucas raised an eyebrow, gently rubbing his healing wound to ease the sting, "Why?" He asked.

"Just do it. Trust me." Ness responded.

Shrugging, Lucas nodded and prepared himself again. He took a moment, before throwing the first jab, letting out a ' _tch_ ' to add extra force. He stopped, noticing that the fire attack hadn't worked. He reset, and tried again. This time, he went through the four hits seamlessly, and propelled several plumes of flames to expel from his outstretched fists. Then, as he delivered the finishing kick, he performed the lightning attack. As he stretched his pointed foot towards the sky, a blast of white energy filled the air with a loud crack. When he hit the ground again, a cluster of sparks briefly gathered around his feet. He looked back at Ness hopefully as he straightened back up, shaking out his still tired body.

"There. See that?" Ness said, patting his shoulder, "You just performed some basic hand-to-hand Psionic combat. Very nice work."

As they set off once again on the trail, Lucas jogged a bit to catch up, still puzzled, "But why did we stop just so that I could learn that?"

"Because...well, we're heading into another...obstacle, where PSI could help you a lot." Ness explained, his voice wavering. Lucas felt a small stutter in his heart when Ness said that, but before he could ask about it, Ness had already begun to sift through his bag, murmuring to himself, "...Where are they? I knew I had them...somewhere...Aha! There we go!" He smiled in satisfaction, pulling out two small, black objects from the bag and handing one to Lucas.

"What are..." Lucas looked down at the item, and saw a very familiar shape that took him right back to the previous day, "...A mask?" He asked, turning the black leather eye mask over in his hands.

"An Unknown mask, yeah! And, also these." Ness pulled out two more, bigger objects, which Lucas could easily recognize to be hooded capes.

'He's not suggesting what I think he's suggesting, is he?" Lucas thought, begrudgingly taking one of the coats.

"Oh, come on, don't make that face. Here's the thing; we're walking right into their territory. Now, if it was just you, and they saw you, they'd let you go ahead. But sadly, you're with me, and as I said before, Unknown...they don't like me very much.  _Which_  is why I snagged these on my way to Tazmily." Ness explained. Lucas pressed his lips into a thin line as he watched Ness quickly don the items, sticking the mask over his eyes and shrugging on the cape.

"So we're going to disguise ourselves as Unknown clanmates? Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lucas asked, reluctantly putting on the disguise. Ness looked up at him and shrugged. Lucas noticed that behind the mask, his violet eyes were now glowing with a bright purple light. He wondered if his own eyes were emitting the same light under his own mask. Upon letting his vision focus, he found that he could see much better than he could before. Everything around him looked much sharper and cleaner. ' _Maybe that's what the glow is. A spell or something._ ' He thought.

"Sure! I'll admit that I've never done it, but we'd best try and see! Besides, they shouldn't be doing border patrols this early in the day. We probably won't even run into anybody. But, just in case we're found out? Use that fancy technique I just showed you." Ness said.

Lucas figured it wasn't worth it to argue. He knew Ness well enough to know that he was too stubborn to forget a plan he had set in motion. He had to admit that the disguises did look very similar to the Unknown soldier they had encountered the previous day.

"Alright, we're all suited up. Very important: Keep your hair hidden. I don't know much about these guys, but I know that all of them have black hair. Each and every on. If you see another soldier, just nod respectfully, and be on your way. And if they attack you...well, hit 'em with that flying roundhouse, you could probably kill someone with that move, if you socked them." Ness said, seemingly unfazed by the violent remark.

"O-oh, good. I'm glad...?" Lucas replied, speeding up his pace.

It didn't take long to reach Unknown borders. Lucas could instantly tell where it was, because he sensed a sudden overwhelming amount of Psionic auras. Ness must've seen him tense up, because he gave him a comforting smile.

"You feel that?" Ness asked.

"Oh yeah." Lucas murmured, shaking his head to clear his mind from the sudden wave. He nearly felt dizzy.

"Better get used to it, you're gonna feel that all the time in Onett," Ness said, lowering his voice to a hushed murmur, "What else can you sense?"

' _He's training me,_ ' Lucas realized. He decided to play along, and concentrated. He let his mind wander, pinpointing every individual aura he could find. Upon focusing on one, he noticed something strange. This wasn't the soft, smooth aura of Psionics. This aura was static-like. He furrowed his brow, "It isn't PSI."

"Almost, but good job," Ness said, "It is PSI, but a different kind. This is called Anti-PSI."

Lucas remembered the battle from yesterday, and how Ness had mentioned that word. He remembered when the enemy had sharply elbowed him in the chest, causing him to spit out blood. He shivered.

"Was that what that person was using yesterday, when they elbowed you?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. Think of it like this; Anti-PSI is kinda like the black magic of Psionics. It takes normal psychic moves and flips them upside down. Like, yesterday, that Unknown soldier used PK Bend. It borrows a component from PK Freeze, which is the ability to control water, and allows you to access the water in someone's bloodstream. So when they elbowed me, they basically...forced blood out of my body." Ness explained. Lucas swallowed nervously.

"Oh."

"Yeah, it's fucked. Anyways, back on track," Ness continued, "Walk with your back straight and your head held high. If you come across another soldier, just nod your head. You're allowed to talk this time, but try to keep your voice low."

"Gotcha."

"And also, keep your guard up. These guys are stealthy. There's a whole bunch of them underneath us right now, and probably a whole bunch more up in the trees, arrows ready. The only reason we aren't dead is because we're wearing these disguises. Just...don't go on autopilot."

Lucas only nodded, and Ness nodded back. Staying close, shoulder to shoulder, they sped up.

Similar to the large bit of forest they had traversed the previous day, it was incredibly quiet. Up above, Lucas began to see multiple shifts and flashes of movement. Each one startled him enough to make him jump. He made sure to grab the coat and tightly wrap it around himself to make sure his foreign clothing was hidden, remembering the dark outfit the soldier from yesterday wore. He pulled the hood as far as he could without blocking his vision to hide his platinum blond hair.

Behind them, Lucas swore he heard leaves rustle. He figured that Ness had probably heard it too, because both of them turned in response, only to see nothing. They both scanned the empty, leaf covered area, their breathing heavy. They turned to look at each other, and gave a nervous laugh to calm down. Probably an animal, they both figured. So, they once again faced the direction they were going.

Only to be met with three dark figures standing just inches away.

" _Aye!_ " Ness cried, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest. Lucas had the same reaction. The three, eerily still soldiers all narrowed their glowing eyes under the masks. Each had an attack bow strapped to their backs. The one in the front of the trio was the one to speak first, as Lucas and Ness regained their composure.

"Lower your voice before you scare food away!" They hissed through grit teeth.

"O-oh! Right! Whispers, I forgot." Ness stammered, standing up straight, "I'm sorry, but we really must be on our way-"

"It's too early for attack parties, unless you were scheduled on a hunting party? I don't see your bows, or your arrows." Observed the leader, looking the two boys up and down. Their two cohorts simply stood in the back, perfectly still, like dark stone statues.

"Ah, well...we have an explanation for that. You see...we dropped them. In...the river. We were just heading back to the village to restock." Ness claimed with fake confidence. Lucas, who stood paralyzed out of fear, nodded vigorously. The leader only eyed them suspiciously for a few moments, before turning their gaze specifically to Lucas.

"What's wrong with this one?" They asked, nudging Lucas' arm somewhat forcefully.

"S-s-scared of thunderstorms, of course...!" Ness said, acknowledging the growing cluster of thick black clouds nearby, "Which is why we really need to get to camp, so that we can get our hunting shift over with, and he doesn't have to be stuck outside in a storm. All good? All good. Let's go."

Ness took a step forward, but his path was cut off by the taller and larger form of the ringleader.

"Unknown are not scared of anything. Why are you?" They challenged, voice lowering to a growl.

"Uhhh, Unknown are not perfect, either! Heh! Everyone's got their flaws, right?" Ness nervously laughed. He once again tried to push his way past the others, but he was once again stopped.

"Your auras. They feel very...odd. Care to explain that?" The leader asked. Ness managed to keep himself from wincing from his mistake.

"Umm...We..." He stumbled, before turning to Lucas, "Why don't you tell them why our auras are like that?"

Lucas, completely bewildered by Ness' sudden decision to put the weight on him, managed to keep a calm, but shaky smile on his face, "Oh, I bet it would be much better if  _you_  told them." He replied, voice brimming with passive aggressiveness.

"I beg to differ, because I think  _you would explain it better!_ " Ness protested. Lucas shot him a look from the side, still keeping the smile on his face, but making sure his eyes sent the message.

"W-well, you see, our...uh...Boss guy? They asked us specifically to practice PSI. Which is why our auras are like that. It's for a...secret mission." Lucas fibbed, making it up as he went along. He crossed his fingers, hoping the lie had worked, but the ringleader didn't look convinced. They took a step towards the two boys, looming over them like a shadow.

"You dare use that kind of language to address our Leader?" They snarled.

"Oops," Lucas thought, before speaking, "Oh, right! Our Leader!"

"I call him 'Leader'. You call him 'His Majesty'. Or have you forgotten your place? Do you not know who you are speaking to?"

Lucas turned to Ness, who shook his head slightly. Lucas frowned. ' _I'm gonna kill him._ ' He thought, before turning back to the ringleader, "...I seem to have forgotten who you are. I-I'm tired, y'know?"

Narrowing their eyes again towards Lucas, as if challenging him, the ringleader slowly drew their hood back to expose a head of sleek, blueish black hair, which was tied back. Lucas could see now that it was a male. Beside him, Ness shifted uncomfortably. Lucas guessed that he probably now recognized him.

"You've forgotten the face of your own Vice, and future Leader?" He muttered as he slipped off the mask, to expose thin, intimidating brown eyes. His face was covered with tiny white scars, which Lucas didn't even want to know the cause of.

"Oh, right! You! My deepest apologies, mister...?" Lucas trailed off.

"Now you're asking for my real name?!" The Vice advanced on Lucas, one of their gloved hands exposed, which was holding a ball of shifting purple mist, "Leader Hawkeye tells me everything, and he mentioned nothing of two hunters learning PSI. I have the sneaking suspicion that you are hiding something. Prove to me, right now, that you are truly Unknown."

"Psh! I'm am offended! First, you rudely stop us, then you question our loyalty?" Ness huffed, pretending to sound hurt, "Well, If I  _must_  prove myself, then so be it. Here, w-watch this."

Ness promptly turned to face Lucas. He had somewhat of a guilty, apologetic look on his face.

' _Lucas, please forgive me for this. I'm trying to save our skin._ ' Ness said through telepathy. Lucas raised an eyebrow, confused. His heartbeat sped up as he saw Ness slowly raise his hands directly at him, and he began to flex his fingers in uncomfortably unnatural ways. Ness' eyes focused directly on Lucas, still looking guilty.

"PK..." Ness murmured, struggling to focus, "PK  _Bend...!_ "

Nothing happened for a moment. That was, until Lucas felt a small twitch in his arm. It started as a slight pull in his skin, but it slowly grew to gradually tug at the insides of his body, as if he was shrinking into himself. While it didn't hurt, it began to grow increasingly uncomfortable. Lucas bit his lip and stumbled a bit, clenching his hands into fists to ease the prickling sensation.

He let out a choke, as his body began to spasm uncontrollably. His knees buckled under his own weight, and he dropped to the ground. Lucas realized that his body was moving without his own intention, as if being pulled by invisible strings. He felt the blood in his veins twist and swerve in several different directions. All the while, Ness kept a solemn, but focused look on his face.

Finally, when Lucas was pushed to the ground by his own blood, the terrible pulling feeling stopped. The first thing Lucas did was take in a deep breath, treating the air like something precious. When he looked up, he realized that Ness was holding his hand out. Lucas, still catching his breath, thankfully took his help and stood up on unstable legs, supported by Ness' arm around his waist.

"Th...there..." Ness breathed, as if incredibly tired, "Anti-PSI! Take _that!_ " He panted victoriously, expecting the three hunters to leave them be. However, the unmasked one before them only smirked.

"Very impressive. Just...tell me something. Are you a soldier, or a hunter?" They asked, crossing their arms.

"Um, duh, we're  _hunters._  We just clarified that." Ness reminded, confident in his story.

That was when the two boys were both grabbed by the arms tightly by the two other clanmembers. Both let out a cry of surprise as their arms were forcefully twisted behind their backs to leave them defenseless. Lucas felt a painful sting come from inside his own head, and felt a huge loss of energy afterwards. He could suddenly sense a lack of Ness' aura, and saw that his friend had fallen limp, but was still awake.

' _Our PSI..._ ' Lucas thought, wriggling his hands around, ' _They took it. I can't use it...!_ '

In front of them, he saw the Vice Leader tilt his head back slightly, seemingly amused.

"Oh, good try. You see, hunters don't  _learn_  PK Bend. In fact, that move is quite complicated, and is rare even for soldiers. However, it is listed in the Anti-PSI expert manual, which we are missing one copy of." He explained, He sneered, "And, we know that the one to steal said book many weeks ago was none other than  _Ness Wyman, of Onett._ "

With his last sentence, the two other hunters threw back both imposter's hoods, exposing their faces. The Vice pulled back Ness' cape to reveal his normal clothing. In a short struggle, he yanked off Ness' bag and opened it, easily spotting and taking out a large object; a book. Ness only stared up at the Vice, terrified, as his mask was forcibly removed. The Vice grinned.

"Hm. Looks like we finally caught this little mouse." He teased, before looking at Lucas and rolling his eyes, "Oh,  _please._  You didn't even try with this one. Not even smearing charcoal in that bright blond hair? Pathetic."

When Lucas' own mask was taken from his face, the Vice's expression suddenly turned to a mix of slight shock and confusion. There were only a few moments of shared eye contact between the two, before he seemed to regain his senses, and returned to his normal demeanor.

"Hunters!" He began, after clearing his throat, "Take these two to the underground camp. We'll leave them behind bars while Leader Hawkeye decides what to do with them."

"Oh, execution, most definitely." The clanmate holding Lucas spoke for the first time.

"The blond one, maybe. But as for Ness...execution is a little too nice, don't you think? Proceed."

Lucas was forcefully shoved, and had no choice but to walk with them. Horrified, his eyes darted around as he searched for some way to escape. Over and over again, he tried to use any PSI move he could, but once again could not. When he turned to look at Ness, he saw that his head was hung low, and he wasn't even making an effort to escape. Ness slowly eyed him from the side, as if apologizing for everything that had happened. Lucas realized that if Ness wasn't even trying to fight back, then there was no way he could get out of this. And so, he solemnly walked along as told.

* * *

The Unknown campgrounds were unlike anything Lucas had ever seen. Tall, cement buildings built onto the trees, which had multiple ladders leading up to structures nestled in the branches, with the occasional bridge connecting them together. The ground was paved with a dark dirt road, which was nearly completely covered with people dressed head to toe in black.

As the captives were violently pulled along, soldiers and hunters all around them tauntingly stared them down and whispered. Lucas noticed that most of them had taken a particular liking to Ness.

"Hey, look at that! They caught Nessie-child!" Shouted one member, laughing afterwards.

"You aren't so tough now, are you?" Added another.

"Who's your nancy-boy, Ness? Where'd you steal a catch like that?"

"He's a cutie, ain't he? Bet he would cost a few hundred! Look at that hair!"

Lucas glared at the surrounding crowd as more jeers were directed towards him. Ness still focused on the ground, either pretending not to notice or simply accepting it. The group approached a particularly large tree with a hollow center, which soon led down into a downwards tunnel, which was lit by torches. The sunlight above them suddenly disappeared as they walked deeper in.

The tunnel soon turned straight, as they traveled down a long hallway similar to the one Lucas had used to escape Tazmily. On the left side of the hallway, the dirt was caved away to form windows, which revealed the much larger underground camp of the tribe. Lucas nearly gasped. There was practically an entire village. His wonder was interrupted when he was thrown into a sudden divot in the wall. He flinched as he painfully collided against the packed dirt beside Ness. He looked up in time to see a wall of bars close in front of them, blocking them from escaping. Lucas instantly shot up to grip the bars, staring down the Vice Leader dead in the eyes.

"You can't keep us locked up forever." Lucas challenged.

"Watch me, little mouse." The Vice smirked, relishing the new nickname he'd chosen for his captives. Lucas only replied by spitting at the ground by his feet. The clanmates behind the Vice immediately advanced on the cell, ready to attack, but they were stopped by the Vice raising his hand, "Don't waste your energy on this one. Don't wanna ruin all this pretty blond hair. Imagine how much it'll sell for." He stuck a hand through the cell bars and gently stroked one finger down the back of Lucas' head, careful not to tussle his hair up. He drew his hand back just in time to dodge Lucas swatting it away.

" _Don't touch me._ " Snarled Lucas, narrowing his eyes to icy blue shards of ice.

"You'll learn to watch your _tongue_ , or your hair won't be the only thing you'll lose. Maybe it would be better just to kill you. Enjoy your last hour or so of life, little mice." The Vice Leader promptly motioned for his cohorts to follow, and the trio walked away, leaving Lucas and Ness in lonely, dim light.

Once they were gone, Lucas began to shake the iron bars as hard as he could in a desperate attempt to get them loose. When that didn't work, he reared back and threw himself against them, hoping that his body weight would make a difference. To his frustration, they didn't budge. He quickly began to scan and analyze the area, looking for some way out. Then, he spotted the ceiling, where the bars were held in place by packed, but thin looking dirt.

"Ness, I have a plan," Lucas said, "You'll give me a boost, and I'll try and dig away the dirt holding the bars up. Then, we'll-" Lucas turned, and stopped talking when he saw that Ness hadn't moved. He simply sat against the cell wall, his solemn eyes simply staring down at the ground. He looked more defeated than Lucas had ever seen. He took a few steps towards him, "...Ness? C'mon, we gotta get out of here."

"What's the point? They'll just catch us again." Ness muttered, drawing his knees into his chest.

"But we can fight them!" Lucas insisted.

"They disabled our PSI, and I'm helpless without it! Best to just stay here and get it over with." Replied Ness. Lucas felt a small surge of anger.

"This isn't like you! Aren't you the one who traveled across an entire stretch of forest just to help me? Aren't you the one who just survived the most deadly battle in history? Aren't you the one who told me to embrace what you can do, no matter what?!" He cried.

"Lucas, there's two of us, and thousands upon thousands of them! If you wanna go ahead and fight them, be my guest. But you'll die the minute you take one step out there!" Ness protested, raising his voice.

"At least I'd die trying! You're just  _letting_  them kill you!" Lucas snapped.

Ness didn't answer. He only averted eye contact, and turned away, looking back down at the floor. Lucas whipped back around and stared at the cell bars, once again searching for a way to escape. However, a part of his heart told him otherwise. He slowly turned back to Ness, sighed, and trudged over beside him, sitting down. Ness looked at him, confused. Lucas scooted up close to him and smiled, in a way to comfort him.

"If we're gonna die, I at least wanna do it together." He murmured. Ness sent him a bittersweet, forced smile.

"Lucas, I..." He trailed off, before finding his words again, "I really thought it was gonna work, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"We almost had them! That guy with the blue hair is a total hardass." Lucas said.

Ness snickered, "That," He said, "Is General Storm, if I remember correctly. He's the second in command, and the right hand man to Leader Hawkeye. Toughest person I've ever met."

"That can't be his real name." Lucas said.

"It isn't. They all have birth names, but they also have code names. His real name is...Minpen, or Ninten, or something like that." Explained Ness.

"Ouch, no wonder he goes by 'Storm'." Lucas giggled.

"Heh, yeah." Ness laughed a bit, before returning to his original, solemn state, "I really am sorry, Lucas. I had one job, and that was to protect you. I broke my promise to Hinawa, she'll never forgive me..."

"Come on, Ness. My mom would never blame you. She'll understand." Lucas assured, patting his shoulder. After a few seconds, he spoke again, "Please don't be mad at yourself."

"It's hard not to."

"Remember what you said last night? You can't let that win. Don't let it," Lucas suddenly remembered something else, "...I'm, uh...I'm sorry again, for saying you've never had to go through hating yourself. I guess...just because I've gone through shit doesn't mean other people haven't."

Ness shook his head, "Don't apologize. You weren't being a dick, you were just ignorant."

"Yeah, I guess." Lucas shrugged. He observed Ness' face with a side glance. Ness seemed incredibly troubled. He nudged him, "...Have you? Ever, y'know...? Hated yourself?"

Ness didn't say anything at first, biting his lip and furrowing his brow. Lucas panicked, hoping he hadn't said anything wrong, but Ness spoke before he did, "Yep."

"You know, it always helps to talk about it." Lucas offered. He smiled, "I'm all ears, if you want."

Once again, Ness hesitated. He seemed to debate with himself, before sighing and nervously laughing, "It's been a while since I've talked about this, but..." He began, "I won't bore you with the details. I was eleven years old. I had a little sister, she was seven. I loved her probably more than life itself. It was just me and her against the world."

Lucas' mind trailed to his own brother. ' _That's how it was with us._ ' He thought.

"We had a plan and everything. Step one, learn PSI. Step two, move away and become the best Psychics this world has ever known. We were young, and it seemed so simple at the time. But...things happen. One night, our parents were out, trading with another village. We were home alone, and we ended up getting into an argument," Ness explained. His voice wavered just a bit, "It got really bad; the worst fight we'd ever hand. It ended with her running off. And me..." Ness stopped, taking in a shaky breath, "...I-I didn't go after her. I was too mad. She just...ran off, all by herself, in the middle of this huge town. Things got worse when a thunderstorm came. I wanted to go out and get her, but it was just too dangerous. And when she didn't come back...!"

Lucas put a hand on Ness' arm as he began to choke up. "Ness..." He murmured.

"The next morning! They..." Ness continued, "...They found her in the river. She drowned. And it was all because of me..." He said, "...It took a long time for me to forgive myself. I would see her all over the place, I would hear her voice. Each time, it would remind me that I did this."

Lucas didn't say anything. He was too stunned. He looked at the ground, "...You lost a sibling."

"Yeah."

"Ness, I get it. I understand."

"Dude, you don't have to do that, it's fine-"

"No, really! I've been through the same thing." Lucas explained. Ness glanced at him, shocked. Lucas continued, "...I had a twin brother."

"Huh?" Ness's eyes widened, "Hinawa didn't mention a brother."

"That's because he's been dead for six years." Lucas said, "He ran away when we were ten. He read the PSI manual, and I'm assuming he accessed his powers early. He ran off, and I never saw him again. We found his shoe, and it was safe to assume that he didn't make it."

The two boys looked at each other, stunned to know that someone else knew their pain. Ness was the one to pull Lucas close into a side hug. Lucas accepted the gesture, snaking his arms around his back and squeezing. Neither said anything, for their actions said enough. They didn't pull away, for both found comfort in each other's warmth. Though they knew that the end was near, they somehow managed to believe that everything would turn out fine.

Lucas felt a surge of energy rush through him; something familiar, that he'd felt before. The torches lining the walls suddenly blew out, surrounding them both in complete darkness. They tightened their grip on each other, startled by the sudden loss of light. An eerie silence filled the area, not even the ambiance of the nearby village could be heard. Lucas suddenly heard Ness gasp.

"Luc, your hands!" He whispered.

Lucas looked down, to see a familiar pink glow surrounding his fingers. He gasped as well. "...PK Love...? But I thought they disabled our powers!" He breathed, as the streams of light floated amoung him.

"They only disabled our PSI. PK Love is half magic, remember?" Ness murmured quietly, as the silent pink vines surrounded them.

As the pair watched with wonder, the lights gracefully drifted back towards Lucas, before absorbing into his chest with a slight breezy noise. Unlike the last time Lucas had performed the spell, this time was calm and gentle. The torches slowly regained their flames, lighting up the area once more. Still holding onto each other, the two slowly turned to look at each other in stunned silence.

"What..." Lucas murmured, "What'd it do?"

"Maybe it didn't do anything? Remember, you only performed half the spell; the magic part. But that's funny...magic is the part that changes reality, that's the part that does the impossible. PSI can't do that." Ness explained.

' _Perhaps you need both halves to make the whole?_ ' Lucas thought to himself.

"Yeah, maybe." Ness suddenly said, startling Lucas.

"Wait, what?" Lucas looked at him, bewildered. Ness took a moment to realize what had happened.

"...Oh shit, hold on! Do that again! Say something in your head, and say it to me specifically." Ness instructed, facing Lucas directly.

' _You mean like this? Can you hear me?_ ' Lucas asked inside his own mind, imagining he was saying it to Ness. Ness gasped quietly.

"Yes!" He cried.

"Really?! Wait, hold on," Lucas concentrated once again, and sent another thought, 'You mean I can talk to you through my mind?'

"Yes, you taught yourself Telepathy! We formed a bond!" Ness exclaimed, grabbing his hands.

Once their hands made contact, Lucas felt the same feeling he felt upon meeting Ness a few days ago; the sense of familiarity and trust. He could understand things about Ness. He couldn't put his finger on what they were, but he knew they were there. Once again, it felt as if he'd known Ness for ages.

"So this is what a bond feels like?" Lucas asked.

"Not yet; it'll take a few days to develop. But it's there." Ness said, seeming a lot more enthusiastic than Lucas thought he'd be. Lucas, too stunned to ask anything else, only smiled, and rested against his friend again.

"Well, I'm glad my first one is you." He murmured.

Upon feeling Lucas lay his head on his shoulder, Ness felt his pulse quicken. He glanced down at his friend, who looked as if he was sleeping peacefully. For a moment, Ness forgot about where they were, and what was going to happen to them. He sighed in both admiration and defeat.

' _Jesus, Ness. You couldn't have gone with that pretty brunette down the street?_ ' He thought to himself. He once again remembered the previous night, and how passionately Lucas had described Nana, and how Ness saw Lucas almost the exact same way. He thought back to the promise he'd made to Hinawa. How desperate her voice was, when she begged him to save her son. He'd sworn on his life that Lucas would reach Onett safe and sound. ' _I'm sorry, Hinawa._ ' He silently sent to her. In his mind, he felt a familiar warmth of a mother's love for her son. He knew that Hinawa was there, mourning, but forgiving.

Once again looking down at Lucas, he examined his yellow hair, angered that it would be cut off and sold. Something that beautiful couldn't just be sent away. That perfect skin, those kind eyes, and that caring, smart personality. That couldn't be lost. He was just too precious. He had so many more years of life to live. Ness suddenly heard a familiar popping sound. Upon looking to the side, he saw that just a few hairs way from his face was a cluster of sparks. Upon watching them for a few moments, they began to fill him with adrenaline. He tightened his hands into fists as a determined look crossed his face.

' _Fuck this._ ' Ness thought, ' _Lucas isn't dying today._ '

"Let's go." He said out loud, suddenly getting to his feet and holding out his hand to help Lucas up.

"What?" Lucas replied as he stood up, confused.

"We're getting out of here. Right now." Ness decided, the old, loud confidence in his voice restored.

"But you said that they'd just catch us anyway!" Lucas reminded. Ness only grinned.

"Well, then at least we'll die trying." Ness said, winking.

Lucas blinked, before smiling as well, and nodding. "Alright. What's the plan?"

"These bars are strong, but they aren't invincible. They're only held up by dirt. On the count of three, we're going to throw ourselves at them. We're both pretty well built guys. Maybe both of us will be enough force to get them loose."

Lucas nodded again, preparing himself for the impact. Each of them put their hoods over their faces, and slipped on the eye masks, which they had previously put in their pockets. He grabbed Ness' hand, and the two reared back for an extra push. Ness took a deep breath.

"One...two..." Both of them counted down in sync.

They didn't even say three before they sprinted as fast as they could towards the door...

...Only for it to open at the last moment, sending them both crashing into the ground.

" _Oof...!_ " Lucas grunted as he fell beside Ness, dazed.

" _...Three._ " Ness muttered, his words muffled due to the fact that he had landed face down.

He propped himself up and spat out the dirt. Behind him, he heard snickering. They turned around to meet the honey coloured eyes of Ninten, or rather, General Storm. He stood at the cell door, one arm rested against the wall and one on his poised hip. He raised an amused eyebrow.

"Tsk, tsk. Come now, don't ruin your clothes. There's a public event about to be held, and you two are the guests of honour, you know." He gleefully said, with the same smugness as ever. With a snap of his fingers, a group of soldiers who had followed him in rushed to grabbed the prisoners by the arms and shoulders, pulling them to their feet. Lucas shared a terrified glance with Ness, who tried to comfort him with a rushed, bittersweet smile.

' _Dākudoragon, help us..._ ' Lucas prayed desperately, as he began to struggle to breathe. He thrashed around as much as he could as he was dragged back out of the dark tunnels, but his efforts proved useless; they were just too strong. He didn't even noticed that he'd started to cry. He was brought outside, where the thunderstorm had begun to brew. A gathering crowd stood, waiting. Nearby, in the center of the clearing, he spotted a single wooden gallows. That was when Lucas began to grow lightheaded and panicked, as memories of his last night in Tazmily suddenly came flooding back like a pound of bricks.

"No!  _No, not again!_  Not again! I can't go through that again! If I have to, at least let Ness live!  _I'll do anything!_ " Lucas hysterically shrieked, nearly losing sense of where he was. Around him, he once again saw the faces of his own village family, all staring him down with those hateful eyes. Before he knew it, he'd been led to the top of the gallows, where endless people stood before it. At this point, he'd stopped struggling, and simply hung his head and cried as his wrists were bound in rope. In his periphery, he saw Ness desperately looking around for some escape method. Before them, the bustling crowd proceeded to throw endless cries and insults.

"L-Lucas...!" Ness cried, realizing that they were completely surrounded.

"What do we do?!" Replied Lucas. Ness didn't answer.

At the very back of the crowd, Lucas spotted a single, still clanmate. They stood motionless, silently watching the scene. One thing stood out from them, being the white gloves and the gold trimming on the otherwise black uniform. The eyes behind their mask glowed bright green, but the rest of their face was ominously hidden by the hood.

' _Their Leader._ ' Lucas thought grimly.

The clamoring noise suddenly came to a complete stop, and the clearing went still. Nearby, General Storm stood, his hand raised to silence the crowd. He glanced back at Ness and Lucas with a malicious smirk, pulled off his own hood, then looked back to the crowd.

"Well!" He began, his voice projected, "Seems like today's our lucky day, yes? One criminal, and one easy sell. I've waited for this day for a while now, haven't you all?"

A cheer rang through the crowd. Lucas shivered as he felt rope brush against his neck, as a noose was strung around him. Fearing that any movement would kill him, he stood completely still. His heart pounded harder than it ever had before.

"So, Ness Wyman, do you have anything to say? Or are you going to deny that you've committed multiple counts of theft, impersonating a hunter, and trespassing within our borders after being given a restriction? Not to mention, a direct assault on our Leader yesterday morning?"

Ness' face turned pale, and he looked at the back of the crowd, where the Leader stood, expressionless. "That was  _you?!_ " He cried, "Y-you weren't wearing your usual uniform! I didn't know...!" He insisted, "...Besides, I did it out of self defense! What would you have done if you were attacked out of nowhere, and had someone you needed to protect?!" He gestured to Lucas.

' _That was the Leader he was fighting yesterday? Jesus Christ..._ ' Lucas thought.

"But you are still accused of many other things, are you not? And with this one," The Vice Leader pointed to Lucas, who glared at him from underneath the hood, "I don't want to risk it."

"Please, he didn't do anything! Here, how about this," Ness pleaded, "I'm only his escort. Give me just another day, and I'll get him where he needs to go. Then, I'll come back, and you can do whatever you want with me. One day, that's all I need."

"Ness, no!" Lucas hissed at him. Ness ignored him.

"You really think I'm gonna believe you on that? You're just looking for your chance to run off." The General sneered, "I've made up my mind."

The crowd around them once again exploded into cheering. Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, wishing for it all to just be over with.

"Lucas...I...I'm so sorry..." Ness suddenly whimpered beside him, "I need to tell you something...!"

"Well, better get it over with fast!" Lucas responded. Ness only nodded.

"Listen, I know we've only known each other for like, a day...? But I'm a Psychic, and Psychics always know..." Ness stammered, swallowing nervously, "Lucas, um..."

Not knowing how to put it into words, Ness struggled through his restraints to reach over and grab Lucas' arm, pulling him towards him. He leaned over and touched his forehead to his, and in that second, a tiny electric spark momentarily zapped between them. For some odd reason, the surrounding crowd went wild, to Lucas' confusion. He looked at Ness, puzzled.

"W-what was that all abou-" He didn't finish his sentence, as he interrupted himself with a startled cry. The rope around his neck was suddenly tightened by someone behind him. His hood was thrown off, exposing his platinum hair. The mob all shared sounds of wonder and fascination, each of them bearing jet black hair. To his surprise, he saw the Leader move a bit. It seemed to be a surprised jolt of all things. His focus was taken off of him when the Vice Leader once again began to talk.

"Whether I go to Heaven, Hell, or anywhere in between, it is my duty to declared these convicts sentenced to death! With the justification I've received, I shall give the order!" He announced.

After taking one last look at Ness, Lucas screwed his eyes shut and waited. After everything he'd gone through, it all had to come down to this.

"At my command, I hereby decree that-"

Everything went silent. For a few seconds, no one spoke, or made a sound. For a moment, Lucas thought that the deed had been done, and he was now gone. However, he still heard the forest ambiance. Slowly, he lifted his head to look up. Everyone stood as still as stone, and everyone faced the back of the clearing. His eyes trailed up, and rested once again on the Leader, who stood with their hand raised high. Like some sort of spirit, they gracefully lowered it, staring the two prisoners down all the while.

"Lower the ropes." They spoke their first words. They had a surprisingly high pitched voice for someone of their demeanor. Lucas felt an odd feeling upon hearing it.

"But, sir!" General Storm cried, puzzled.

"Did I stutter?" The Leader shot, glaring daggers as him.

"N-no, sir. As you wish."

As requested, the rope around Lucas' neck was released. He savored the feeling of the pressure being relieved. However, his joy was short, as the Leader had slowly begun to make his way through the crowd. As he passed, his subjects parted like water. The whole time, he kept his stare focused on Lucas. Lucas wasn't sure if he felt scared or interested, but all he knew was that he had no idea where any of this was going. Even Ness seemed to be completely dumbfounded. As the silence continued, every pair of eyes was focused on the Leader, who took long, gentle strides towards the captives. Before Lucas knew it, he'd come face to face with him. The Leader stared him down with his piercing eyes, his expression completely unreadable.

Lucas flinched as the Leader raised his hand and approached his face. He hesitated, before taking hold of his eye mask and carefully taking it off. Upon seeing Lucas' entire face, the Leader seemed to quietly gasp. As the deafening silence went on, the two continued to look at each other. Lucas tried to look as threatening as possible, not letting any sign of his fright show. To his surprise, the Leader opened his mouth to say something. He stopped, seeming to debate the decision. His eyes softened a bit.

"I..." He began, in a soft, tender voice, "...I-I know you will be upset..." His words trembled slightly. The surrounding crowd watched with curiosity. He continued, "...B-but I want you to know...you haven't changed in the slightest."

Lucas' brow furrowed. He didn't say anything. Sighing, the Leader shakily reached up to grab both his hood and his mask. He hesitated for a long while, once again questioning the decision. But finally, he decided to discard both items. In that instant, a million questions and thoughts raced through Lucas' head, as the Leader revealed a head of disheveled red hair, and bright green eyes, which shamefully looked back at him.

It was Claus.

Lucas blinked a few times, thinking that perhaps he was only seeing things. But this proved untrue. In front of him, as if looking in a mirror, he saw Claus. A gasp of both horror and shock escaped him, as his heartbeat sped up. Even though many years had passed, there was no denying the sharp face and the unique shade of hair. This was his twin brother. Lucas, who didn't know what to say, backed away, shaking his head.

" _N...no..._ " He whimpered, "...I'm done with the lies..."

Claus guiltily looked at the ground and sighed.

"I might as well be a lie at this point." He admitted, "But it really is me," He assured, "...Lucas."

Upon hearing his name being spoken to him, Lucas' horror turned to a whole slew of emotions. Choking back on tears, he half fell, half stumbled into his brother's arms. They grabbed onto each other as if it was for dear life. Lucas buried his face into his neck, feeling the flow of blood and his pulse. He felt Claus' fingers dig into his skin, nearly tearing through his clothes. Lucas put his hand on Claus' chest, and felt his heart beating. He put his hand on his back, and felt that he was breathing. This was Claus, and he was alive.

"Y-you said my name..." Lucas rasped.

"I've said your name every day in my prayers for the past six years." Murmured Claus. He pulled away and put his hand on the side of Lucas' face, guiding him to look up at him. "Please, let me look at your face." His eyes flashed with melancholy, as he observed Lucas' now red eyes and tear stained face, "You've been damaged." He noticed, "But it made you stronger...much stronger than I think I'll ever be." He said, hugging him again.

"Tighter." Lucas whispered. Claus obliged and tightened his grip.

"I've got you." Claus assured, "And I swear on my life that I am not letting you go."

For the few seconds they clung to each other, Lucas almost felt as if he was ten years old again. The nostalgia was enough to slowly calm him down, though he was still trembling. He felt Claus pat his shoulder, beckoning for him to look up again.

"Come with me." Claus murmured, an anticipated smile on his face.

* * *

As Lucas and Ness hurriedly followed Claus down another underground tunnel, Lucas couldn't find the ability to shut up.

"I don't understand, you  _died!_  They found your shoe! I spent six years thinking you were dead, but you were here?!" Lucas rambled on, still baffled by the reveal he'd been subjected to. Claus listened to every word of it as he expertly navigated his way through the winding tunnels. Ness, who hadn't spoken a single word, awkwardly shuffled along with them. At this point, he figured it was better to just let Lucas handle it.

At last, the trio ended up in a dead end. A single wooden table sat in the middle, with a few chairs surrounding it. Claus nervously looked back at his brother, hands respectfully held together. Lucas trailed off his rant, and awaited for what he would say next.

"You have questions," Claus began in a hushed voice, "But I can tell they all boil down to one."

Lucas took in a deep breath, "I just want to know... _why?_ "

Claus bowed his head, having expected that. He gestured to the table, "Sit, and I'll explain everything."

Lucas nodded and instantly took a seat, while Ness wavered nearby. Claus signaled for him to sit as well, so he did so, uncomfortably. Claus sat across from the two and sighed, clasping his hands together.

"Six years ago," He began, "I read the book. The entire thing."

Lucas reacted by instinctively reaching into his bag and pulling the leather bound book out. He held it towards his brother, who shuddered and tentatively took it into his hands, nearly dropping it.

"How long it's been since I've seen this." Claus muttered, flipping through the dry pages, "After reading this, it ignited a spark inside of me. I was one of the unlucky Psychics to receive their abilities much too early, resulting in it turning out faulty for me."

"Ness said something about that! Accessing your PSI early can do things like that, right? That's why you're in this village?" Lucas asked.

"Well, not entirely. After coming down with probably the worst fever I've ever had in my life, I knew what Tazmily would do if they found out. So, I ran off. I left the book there, because I knew you'd need it." Claus explained, "I ran, and ran, and didn't stop. The pain only grew worse. That was, until it started to rain. The water doused the fever."

Lucas shivered, remembering the absolute agony he'd felt. He remembered the heat that felt like a million suns.

"Why didn't you come back home?" Lucas asked.

"I was too scared of what they'd do to me, and what they'd do to you. I was panicking, so I just kept running. The storm only grew worse...all I remember is not looking where I was going, and falling into a river. I must've hit something, because next thing I knew, I woke up to being carried by soldiers from this village. I figured, I must've simply drifted down that river for however many days it was. They took me in, treated my injuries, and nursed me back to health. And in those few days, I developed a particularly strong liking to our previous Leader. She often stayed with me for hours at a time as I healed, teaching me about the history of Unknown and what Anti-PSI was." Claus smiled at the fond memories.

"And you never left?" Ness guessed, finding the courage to speak.

"I couldn't. I knew I couldn't go back home. After our old Leader realized I had an anti-Psionic aura, she offered to take me under her wing, as an apprentice of some sorts. I must admit, this place grew on me incredibly quick. There were a few who didn't appreciate my presence, seeing as I wasn't born into the village. But, I stayed. My teacher taught me everything I know now, and she eventually chose me as her Vice Leader after our old one died from sickness." Claus said, "She died recently, about six months ago. I've been leading this village ever since."

Lucas and Ness only stared back in stunned silence. Ness' brow furrowed, and he turned to Lucas.

"So you're telling me that Leader Hawkeye, the guy who tried to kill me yesterday, is your dead brother who isn't really dead?" He asked.

"...It...would seem so?" Lucas shrugged.

Claus seemed to laugh a bit, "So it  _was_  you I saw with Ness yesterday. When you came up and teleported, I only caught a glance of you. But I stayed up all night last night thinking about it,  _knowing_  it was you." He turned to Ness, and frowned a bit, "And what are you doing with _him?_ "

Lucas proceeded to tell him everything that had happened, about their mother choosing Ness to escort him to Onett. As he explained, Claus' expression turned to a mix of confusion and irritation. When Lucas had finished, he clicked his teeth out of annoyance.

"Out of all the people she had to pick, it had to be this little thief?" Claus muttered.

"Please forgive him, he won't do it again! Come on, it was only once or twice." Lucas begged. Claus narrowed his eyes at Ness, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Once or twice?" Claus repeated, "Seriously? We keep a list about him, you know. He has attempted to steal over 40 times, and has actually stolen nearly 20 times! Just a few days ago, he stole a few uniforms from us!" He said, gesturing to the hoods that the two were wearing.

Lucas blinked, his mouth slightly ajar in shock, before turning slowly to Ness, his face displaying clear irritation. Ness hesitantly looked at him, squirming in his seat.

"...You said it was once or twice." Lucas whispered.

"I...lost count?" Ness shrugged.

"Forty isn't a ' _lose count_ ' kind of number!" Cried Lucas, causing Claus to snicker a bit.

Suddenly, the presence of another person alerted them; General Storm. He approached the table, his face clearly troubled and confused.

"Leader Hawkeye," He began, suspiciously eyeing Ness, "Is there something I need to be involved in?"

"No need to call me that while around these two, just call me by my name," Claus insisted, "Ninten, you've met Ness."

Ninten jerked his head in a passive aggressive greeting towards Ness. "Yes, pleasure." Ness sneered back at him.

"And this is Lucas." Claus finished, "He's...my brother."

Ninten turned to Lucas with wide eyes, looking him up and down, "This is him?" He asked, "I thought you were playing tricks on me when I first saw you in the forest."

"I noticed you hesitate for a moment when you saw me." Lucas nodded

"I believe that we both have to apologize for our behavior towards you," Said Ninten, reaching over the table to shake Lucas' hand, "I'm sorry for my rough treatment. As for you..." He eyed Ness, who shot a glare at him.

"You'll get your justice, Ninten. He'll get the consequences. But for now, leave him be. He's the reason my twin is still alive." Claus said.

Ninten only huffed in frustration and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and shaking his head to get his hair out of his face.

"With all due respect, Claus, you're going quite soft." He said. Lucas detected a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Who's your Leader again? Here, if you want it so bad, you can deal with him." Claus decided. Ninten's eyes widened with horror. Ness' reaction wasn't too different.

" _What?!_  I don't want to deal with  _that_ , I still want  _some_  of my dignity!" Ninten cried.

"My mind is made up. Ness, to make up for your multiple counts of thievery and trespassing, you'll be going with my Vice Leader. He'll think of something. Right now, I have some catching up to do." Claus ordered. Ninten began to protest, but shut his mouth and sighed, glaring at Ness.

"Well, are you just going to sit there? Let's go." He instructed. Ness hesitantly got up, giving a disappointed glance at Lucas, who shrugged.

"Traitor." Ness murmured, somewhat playfully.

"Don't die." Lucas replied with a smile.

With that, Ness unwillingly trudged on behind Ninten, mentally preparing himself for whatever hell he would be put through. Claus and Lucas were left alone in the dimly lit room. They sat in a bit of an awkward silence. Up above, thunder crashed. Claus chuckled.

"Heh...they're gonna have fun in that. Storms get really bad around these parts." He explained. Lucas quietly snickered.

"He won't actually hurt Ness, will he?" Lucas asked.

"Not as long as I tell him not to. Ninten's a hothead, but he's not disloyal." Claus explained.

The two once again fell silent, the only noise being from the storm above them. Lucas fidgeted with his hands, while Claus simply stared down at the table. Lucas drew in a long breath, and let it out with a sigh.

"It's funny...I'd expect myself to have more to say to my dead brother who's actually alive." He said.

"Well, we could start with you. I already told you what's been going on here, what about Tazmily?" Claus asked. Lucas tensed up a bit, and Claus noticed this. He raised a concerned hand, "I'm sorry, should I not...?"

"No, you deserve to know." Lucas muttered.

"What happened when you...y'know...?" Claus prompted, "I'm guessing that sense you're running away, it can't be good."

Lucas' eyes went dark. He went silent, before replying in a shadowy voice, "...They tried to kill me."

" _No._ " Claus denied out of disbelief and sadness.

"Yes." Lucas replied. Claus reached across the table and took his hands, gripping them tightly. Lucas pressed his lips into a thin line, nodding to clarify that he was being truthful, "Everyone. Th-they tied me to a pole, they tried to burn me...! The only reason I survived was out of luck and PSI. Claus, everyone turned on me. Caroline, and Biff, and Tessie..."

"Even Fuel?!" Claus cried, eyes full of despair. Lucas' heart ached; he knew how close Fuel and his brother were when they were kids. Sadly, he nodded.

" _Especially_  Fuel. He was the one who did this," Lucas stood up and lifted his shirt, exposing the bandaged stab wound that was healing, but still bleeding. Claus put a hand to his mouth.

"N-no, he  _wouldn't..._ "

"But he did. You know how against Psychics his father was. I wouldn't be surprised if Lighter was proud of him for nearly killing me."

"What about Nana? She adored you, she'd never..." Claus trailed off.

"Well...actually, no, not Nana. I don't even know how she felt about it. But after Fuel stabbed me, she grieved. She held me, Claus. I think...I think she's okay with it..." He choked up slightly, "I'm _scared._  Chances are, Fuel ran off and told everyone that she even had an ounce of sympathy for me. Nana's strong, one of the strongest in the village, but against everyone there..."

"Don't think about that, Lucas. Remember that concussion she gave me during one of our stickfighting classes? She's tough." Claus assured. Lucas nodded.

"You're right. She's the only one who cared...well, besides dad."

Claus gasped slightly, "That's right, I forgot about dad! How is he?" He asked.

"He's...alive." Was all Lucas could think of to say.

"...That's it? Is he well?"

"Not entirely. After you disappeared, dad lost it. He started forgetting things. First, it was just forgetting to eat, or feeding the sheep twice. But then...he started forgetting that you were gone. I'd have to remind him every day that both you and mom weren't here anymore. He forgot who I was at one point, sometimes he'd think I was you. He got violent sometimes, too. He'd throw things a lot, and then...he'd just...reset." Lucas explained.

"Christ..." Claus murmured, "...Memory loss and violence? Alzheimer's, maybe."

"Most likely." Lucas agreed. He bit his lip, "H-he had so much trouble doing normal day things...Claus, what's gonna happen to him?! I'm not there to take care of him! He forgets to eat, he forgets to sleep, he spends all day looking for you! He got so confused all the time...I'm not there, and how many people in the village are gonna wanna look after him after what happened with me? H-he can't survive on his own! What if he's already dead?!"

"Lucas, you _cannot_  think like that! You've been through too much, you need to think positive," Claus took his hands again and softened his gaze, "You're here with me now. You're alive, and you're safe. You're on your way to a better life. You don't need to think about Tazmily anymore."

"O-okay..." Lucas took a deep breath and nodded, "You're right, things are going well..."

Another clash of thunder up above startled the two.

"Jesus, that was close." Claus remarked, deciding to change the subject, "Bet you Ness is already bleeding out, huh?" He asked.

Lucas laughed, grateful for the lifted tone, "Wouldn't be surprised."

Claus stood up and beckoned for him to follow, "Come, I'll take you to where I live. I'll get my healers to fix you up."

"That'd be wonderful, thank you," Lucas said, standing up and following him back down the hallway, "What do you think Ninten and Ness are doing?"

" _Ohhh,_  knowing Ninten, I have a pretty good idea."

* * *

"So you're saying...we're going to stand in one spot, totally still,  _in the rain_ , freezing cold, for  _two hours?!_ "

Ness stared in disbelief at Ninten, who crossed his arms.

"That's exactly what we're doing. You're a big kid, you can handle it." Ninten muttered, turning to gaze over the long stretch of forest in front of them. The two were standing at the very edge of the village. Ness, who's arms were wrapped around himself and who's hair was matted to his face from the rain, pouted and positioned himself beside Ninten, who barely acknowledged the thick downpour pelting against him.

" _May I ask why we are doing this?_ " Ness asked, enunciating each word in a mock, authoritative tone.

"We're keeping watch to guard the village. Storms leave us vulnerable," Ninten explained, "I figured that you wouldn't enjoy it very much, so I decided to have you do it with me."

"Well joke's on you, I  _love_  standing in the middle of a thunderstorm!  _It allows me to connect with nature!_ " Ness retorted, having to raise his voice so that Ninten could hear. Ninten only rolled his eyes, before reaching an arm behind Ness and jabbing the palm of his hand into his back. Ness yelped, startled by the sudden impact and the wave of Psionic energy that quickly flowed into his body. Ness winced at the sudden head rush that followed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You reactivated my PSI?"

"You might need it, in case we come across a rogue or two."

"What's that?"

"People who abandon the village. A whole bunch of them left after Claus was named Leader, not wanting to be under the leadership of someone who wasn't born into the village. A few of them have been spotted within our borders recently; I fear they may have malicious intent. We've had to double our security to make sure no harm comes to our Leader." Ninten said, seeming irritated with having to explain.

"O-oh..." Ness mumbled, "Well, what do they look like?"

"That's the hard part. They look like normal Unknown members. They still have their uniforms, not to mention they know our schedules and techniques. One could easily blend right in. However, if they get close enough, you'll be able to sense their auras. You can tell they're rogues if you sense disloyalty or even possibly guilt. If you see even the slightest flicker of movement, tell me," Ninten ordered, reaching into his hood to pull out a wooden bow and a set arrow, "I'll take care of them."

"Whoa, I get it, safe vs. sorry, but...what if you accidentally kill someone who isn't a rogue?" Ness asked.

"These won't kill, they'll only stun for a moment; they also place a temporary disabling spell on their PSI, if they have it. Forgive my tone, but I'd appreciate if you stopped asking questions. Your voice is starting to wear away at the brain cells I still have." Ninten spat, pulling the bow into motion and aiming into the trees, ready to shoot upon Ness' command.

Ness frowned, and mouthed Ninten's words bitterly. Feeling fed up with the rain, he waved his right arm to summon a shield of light, and held it above himself. He sighed in relief, as the rain pattered against the glowing surface. Using PK Fire, he easily warmed himself up against the harsh, stormy winds. He went still for a few moments, scanning the forest as he was told. Then, he looked back to Ninten, seeing that he still stood in firing position, simply allowing the rain to pelt at him.

' _He's not seriously trying to be that tough, is he?_ ' Ness thought. After a few more seconds of observing him, he sighed, ' _God dammit, Ness, you big softy._ '

With a slight fidget of his hand, he extended the shield, holding it over the both of them. Ninten's attention was jolted, and he glared at Ness with a confused and aggressive expression. Ness reached his other hand over and set it on Ninten's arm, performing a low PK Fire.

"Whoa, what're you-" Ninten abruptly stopped, feeling his body suddenly rise in temperature. As he was caught off guard, he let his eyes close and his head tip to the side, sighing into the sudden warmth. When Ness had pulled away, Ninten snapped out of his nearly euphoric state, "Ahem-! Um...what was that?" He asked, once again turning to the forest and pretending it had never happened.

"I used PK Fire to increase your body heat. That should last for at least thirty minutes." Ness answered. They could hear each other now that they had a roof above them, sheltering them from the rain. The light from the shield also lit up a good portion of the forest.

"I'll have you know that I don't need your help." Ninten muttered stubbornly.

"I don't like you in the slightest, but I'm not about to let someone catch hypothermia. You're welcome." Ness said, not even bothering to look at him.

Ninten pouted for a few seconds, before scoffing and going silent. There was silence for almost a full minute, before he eventually spoke again, "...Thank you."

Ness only nodded in acknowledgement. Once again, he focused intensely on the dark forest, as well as he could through the thick, sideways rain. Every few minutes, the light shield would burn out, and he'd have to take a few seconds to recharge before he spawned another. Although lightning flashed and thunder boomed, Ness swore he'd never heard such silence in his life. Every so often, he'd glance back at Ninten, who never took his eyes off the forest. He expected for him to catch him off guard and shoot him down multiple times, but Ninten stayed still. Ness kept his PSI on guard, waiting for the eventual attack.

But, it never came. As usual, Ninten didn't move a muscle. Ness' suspicious began to fade away. Ninten really was out here to keep watch, he thought. He wasn't lying. This boy really was willing to stand out in -5 degrees weather, freezing to death, just to make sure no harm came to Claus. Ness narrowed his eyes, and huffed.

" _Why_  haven't you tried to kill me yet?" He snapped, startling Ninten a bit. Ninten turned to him, lowering the bow and arrow slightly.

"What? Why on Earth would I?" Ninten asked in disbelief.

"Uhhh, because you obviously  _wanted to?_ " Ness replied.

"Those were not my orders. My orders were to have you give service to us, to repay your damages. Besides, Claus told me specifically  _not_  to kill you." Ninten said.

Ness blinked, not knowing how to respond to that, "...Wow, you really are dedicated to this guy, aren't you?" Ninten glared at him nearly at the speed of light, his eyes clouding over. Ness backed up a bit, "I-I didn't mean that as an insult! More of just a remark!"

Ninten's eyes softened a little, and he seemed to be genuinely guilty for his reaction, "Ah, right...right...my apologies."

"Maybe...it gives us something in common?" Ness suggested, "We both have someone we need to protect more than anything. You and Claus must be close."

"Me and Claus..." Ninten murmured. He sighed, keeping his attention on the forest, but still willing to talk. He hesitated, unsure whether he wanted to tell Ness of all people about himself. But from what he could feel from his aura, Ness was there to listen. He breathed in, "I was his first friend when he arrived at the village. See, I wasn't always a soldier."

"Really?" Ness asked. Although he didn't know much about Unknown, he did know about the different roles people played. Healers, in charge of medicine and treatment, Hunters, in charge of finding food, and Soldiers, in charge of battling and combat.

"Yep. I was training as a Healer. I was in charge of taking care of Claus while he healed from his injuries. This gave us plenty of time to bond," Ninten explained, smiling at the pleasant memories, "When I found out he would be joining as a Soldier, I was ecstatic. I knew, from watching him talk with our previous Leader, that he would be made the Vice soon. And when he came of age, that's exactly what happened. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before he became the Leader, I knew that he'd be looking for his own Vice."

"And that's who you wanted to be?" Ness guessed.

"More than anything. Claus and I...we're best friends. I'd trust him with my life. And all I wanted was for him to be safe, so I dropped my training as a Healer and went into combat. And the day he became Leader...when he stood up there and announced he'd be choosing a Vice, I knew exactly who it was going to be," Ninten paused, "...He looked right at me, and we shared this knowing look. We both knew, and I assume the whole village did, too. He looked me right in the eyes, and called me up. That was the day he named me his eventual successor. And I've been dedicated to the grave with him ever since."

When Ninten had finished, Ness felt a sense of connection. His past aggressive feelings towards this boy had seemed to fade.

' _He gets it._ ' Ness realized, before speaking out loud, "That's cool. That's really cool, seriously. I bet he really appreciates it."

"I think he does," Ninten replied, with a content smile.

A sudden noise from the forest alerted the two. Ninten shifted back into battle position, and took a step closer to Ness.

"Put your mask on. You still have it, right?" He whispered.

"Yeah, here..." Ness murmured. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the eye mask. Upon sticking it on, he could easily see better and sharper. Upon looking into the trees, he spotted movement. A short, flicker of black. He gasped, before blurting out, "Three O'clock, near the ground!"

Ninten instinctively let an arrow loose into the forest, aiming at where Ness had directed. As it soared, it left a trail of green light. The glow got fainter and fainter as it went deeper into the trees, before it disappeared completely. A loud, raspy screech filled the air, making Ness jump.

"Whoa!" He cried, amazed by Ninten's accuracy, "You hit someone!"

"No, I hit a bird. That's what you saw." Ninten replied, reaching back to retrieve another arrow from his holster.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be. I told you to alert me of any movement, and you did just that," Ninten replied, "You're fast. If you'd reacted any slower, I probably wouldn't have hit it. Nice instincts."

Ness paused, stunned, before a teasing smirk crossed his face, "Wow, you just said something nice to me."

"Ssh. _Don't tell anybody._ " Ninten purred. Both boys snickered playfully. Ness nudged him a bit with his elbow.

"You're alright, Ninten. I mean, I know I've called you an asshole on many occasions, but...you're just a guy doing his job. I think...I almost tolerate you." Ness said.

"Right back at you, Nesley."

"Call me Ness. It's what my friends call me."

"Friends?" Ninten asked, eyeing him from the side, "...Yeah, okay. Ness."

A rustle of leaves once again put the guards on edge. They each stared intently at the forest, searching for any possible sign of movement. The sound was bigger this time, and much too heavy to be a bird. Ness began to sense something; an aura. He froze, hackles rising. This aura was staticky and tough. He looked at Ninten, who bit his lip in anticipation. There were a few more moments of silence.

Suddenly, Ninten fired another arrow. It instantly hit something, which made a grunting noise.

" _Ambush!_ " Ninten cried, "Ness, get to the village, spread the word!" He raised a hand and performed a light spell, lighting up the area around them. Upon doing so, he revealed a cluster of black shapes crowded around a fallen one. Each of the shapes was a person, each identical to Unknown members. The light spell ignited their hoods in a fiery blaze, and turned them a burnt white colour. Ninten drew a sword and stepped back into a battle stance, " _Ness, go!_ "

"I'm not leaving you here alone! I'm sending a telepathic message, don't worry!" Ness's hand ignited in violent sparks as he prepared PK Thunder, and going back to back with Ninten, who stared at him in disbelief. Ness gave him an assuring nod, "Lucas knows. I just told him. We're in this together."

Ninten began to say something, but as the distant yells of rogues alerted him, he only closed his mouth and nodded. "Right, then. Let's show them what we're made of."

* * *

Lucas, who had been asleep in the hospital ward, awoke with a terrified gasp. He sat upright in a cold sweat, alerting Claus, who stood nearby.

"What is it?" Claus asked, rushing to his side at the bed. Lucas looked at him with alarm in his eyes.

"A-ambush! Ness just told me!" He cried, grabbing his brother's arm.

"Christ, I knew they'd attack the minute a storm came!" Claus spat, his eyes darkening. He turned to approach the exit, drawing his sword, "Stay here! I'm off to-" He was cut off, upon realizing that Lucas had already gotten to his feet, and was putting on his black coat and mask. He put a hand out to stop him, "No, you're not fighting. You're injured."

"I'm well enough to fight!" Lucas protested.

"No! Your powers aren't developed enough!"

"Claus, I can put a crack in a tree just by kicking it; I'm strong. I'm not helpless!" Lucas insisted. Claus didn't say anything, so he continued, "Claus, you don't know who I've become. I'm not ten years old anymore; I'm not the Lucas you remember. Let me show you what I can do."

Claus mentally debated in his mind, opening his mouth to say something, but the sudden yelling from outside distracted him. He sighed, "Fine. If you die, I'll bring you back to life and kill you."

Lucas smiled victoriously and nodded, and proceeded to follow his brother quickly out of the hospital ward. Upon exiting, he was instantly thrown into chaos. Left and right, there was fighting, as people were flung from where they stood. The flashes and sounds of PSI roared across the clearing. Instinctively, Lucas performed PK Fire, ready to attack. Claus stayed close to him.

"Attack the ones with white acid splotches on their coats! Ninten must've already performed PK Burn. And Lucas...!" Before Lucas could rush off, Claus grabbed his arm, and looked him in the eye, "Please, be careful. I don't want to lose you again."

"I promise." Lucas assured, smiling.

A split second later, in his periphery, he spotted a black shape shooting towards him. Lucas instantly reacted by pivoting around and spotting a stray arm, which he grabbed tightly. His attacker tried to yank away, but Lucas kept a tight grip. He was distracted by Claus' sudden cry; he had also engaged in battle, locked eye-to-eye with a much bigger opponent. Taking advantage of Lucas' distraction, his opponent kicked upwards, knocking away Lucas' hand with a loud crack as the wrist bone was hit. She sent another kick, making contact with Lucas' jaw and sending him to the ground. She lunged at him, ready to pin him down, but he reacted by rolling backwards and onto his feet, and thrusting his hands outward. A static blast from PK Thunder sent the rogue flying back, skidding against the ground. As Lucas got to his feet, so did the opponent, and the two locked hands, pushing against each other's weight.

Lucas was the unfortunate one to break loose from the battle. His opponent threw two punches, each of which he dodged. Lucas quickly lunged forward and grabbed her shoulder, ramming his hand into her stomach, backed up with PK Fire. Before she could react, he spun her around, locking her into a choke hold and squeezing as hard as he could. He charged up PK Thunder, ready to send a finishing shock through her body, but she thrust her elbow into his side, knocking him loose. She turned to thrown another punch, which was aimed poorly, and caught Lucas' shoulder. Lucas grabbed her wrist once again, and with all of his strength, he pushed his body against hers and yanked her up, flipping her backwards, and sending her colliding into the ground.

"Think again next time you attack a  _Tazmilian!_ " Lucas shouted, as she scrambled to flee back into the woods.

"Lucas! Behind you, duck!"

Lucas, unsure of who said the warning, dropped to the ground, just in time to see another rogue tumble to the ground in front of him, with a ball of blue static prepared in the palm of their hand. Then rolled back into a standing position, and went at Lucas instantly. Lucas, who hadn't prepared quickly enough, squeezed his eyes shut and awaited the incoming attack.

However, it never came. He glanced up, and realized that he was being protected by someone else; Ness. He stood in front of Lucas, holding up a Psionic shield, blocking the attack.

" _Ness...?!_ " Lucas cried, quickly scrambling back a few feet. Ness glanced back at him.

"In the flesh!" Ness smiled, before kicking the attacker's leg underneath the shield, causing them to fall to the ground. He quickly dropped to a crouch and jammed his elbow into the area between the shoulder blades, for extra measure. While the opponent recovered, Ness quickly helped Lucas up, panting, "I ran here as fast as I could. You okay?"

"Never been better." Lucas clarified.

"Alright, then let's give this guy hell."

At that point, the rogue had gotten to his feet. He was much taller and well built than the two boys. He went for Lucas, who blocked a sudden punch with his arm. He sent a look at Ness, who got the idea. While the rogue and Lucas engaged in their own fist fight, Ness skidded underneath the legs of both of them, before hiking his leg up and striking the tailbone. The rogue whipped around, prepared to fight Ness, but Lucas had already charged up a surge of lightning while his back was turned, and shot a powerful blast at him. The attack stumbled him up, but didn't knock him down.

"You're not Anti-Psychics...?!" The rogue suddenly spoke, coughing, "What, is Hawkeye letting in people from Onett, now?!"

"You'd be surprised to find that Onett packs quite the  _punch!_ " Ness replied, rushing forwards and jetting his elbow up and into the rogue's temple, backed up with a powerful blast of fire. The rogue fell to the ground, motionless.

"Is he dead?" Lucas asked.

"No, he's knocked out," Ness panted. He looked at Lucas with an impressed glance, "That was...pretty good!" His face suddenly turned pale, as he glanced behind Lucas. Lucas turned, and saw that Ninten was being cornered by three rogues. He looked visibly exhausted and injured, as he backed up against a building, holding out his drawn sword, shaking. Ness immediately sprinted to the scene, calling over his shoulder, "I gotta help him! You take care of Claus!"

Lucas, remembering that Claus was still battling an opponent much bigger and stronger than him, nodded and took off in their direction.

Ness had already begun charging up PK Fire, as he approached Ninten, ready to clear out all three of his attackers. Ninten, although obviously weak, fought off all three with his sword, expertly dodging, blocking, and attacking. However, a fourth rogue was sneaking up from behind the distracted Ninten. In their hand, they held a line of chains, probably preparing to strangle him. Ninten continued with his own battle, barely aware of the approaching danger.

" _No!_ " Ness shrieked. All in under a few seconds, he shoved Ninten as hard as he could into the forest behind them. Ninten rolled for a few paces, before he managed to sit up, astounded. Ness thrust his hands at the four opponents, sending a massive explosion of fiery waves. Both boys were thrown back a few feet deeper into the forest by the resulting shockwave, as well as a few enemies.

Ninten's eyes fluttered open as he lay, unable to move. Ness had already sat up, and was tearing apart Ninten's clothing in order to expose his wounds. He was covered in incredibly deep gashes which bled profusely. He quickly performed PK Freeze and melted the ice, not hesitating to hastily clean the injuries. Ninten tensed a bit, trying to sit up, but the pain left him motionless.

"N-no! Please, I have to get back out there, I have to make sure that-!" He grit his teeth and flinched as Ness pressed his hands forcefully against his wounds to stop the bleeding.

"Stay still, or you'll make it worse! You're practically in  _pieces_ , you bloody idiot!" Ness cried, as he proceeded to take off his vest, folding it up and positioning it underneath Ninten's head to cushion it. He then grabbed his own dress shirt sleeve and tore it off with a loud ripping sound, using it as a makeshift bandage for one of the deeper slashes on Ninten's arm. Ninten weakly gazed up at Ness with confusion gleaming through his half closed eyelids.

"W-why did you save me...?" He rasped.

"We're Psychics, we look out for each other." Ness reminded calmly. He cupped his hands over Ninten's torso, and muttered an incantation under his breath. A lime green aurora phased from his palms and absorbed into Ninten's exposed skin, seeping into his veins and illuminating them with the bright green glow. He quickly stood up, seeing that it was all he could do at the moment, "Stay here, and don't move. That healing spell will only get you so far. I'll be back for you."

Ness began to head back to the village.

"N-Ness! Wait, please wait a moment...!" Ninten cried desperately, throwing his hand out.

Upon request, Ness skidded to a halt and glanced back at him from over his shoulder, giving a comforting smile.

"I'll protect Claus." He assured, knowing why Ninten had stopped him.

Ninten smiled weakly back, nodding his head in thanks.

Ness pivoted back around and leapt back into action. Keeping his promise to Ninten, he scanned the chaotic fight around him for Claus' red hair, eventually spotting it a few yards away. Both Claus and Lucas were fighting against two enemies. Lucas put his strength and skill in combat to good use, while Claus used his sword with more speed and strategy than Ness had ever seen. Although they seemed to be putting up a good fight, other rogues around them obviously wanted to join in, their sights set on Claus.

Claus was the one to see Ness first. They shared a quick second of eye contact to acknowledge each other, as Ness headed for the approaching enemies. Using PK Freeze, he constructed a large wall of ice, shielding the twins from potential danger.

He turned back around, prepared to attack, but was shocked to see that the two opponents had fled.

"Where'd they go? Did you-"

Ness was cut off when he realized that the clearing was quickly emptying. Rogues were taking off into the woods, leaving stunned Unknown soldiers everywhere. Almost as quickly as they had appeared, they left, leaving the village in silence. Ness realized that not only were there no voices, there was no rain. The storm had vanished. Still filled with the determination to fight, Ness grit his teeth and turned back to the twins. He was confused to see both of the facing away from him. To his shock, Lucas' arms were outstretched towards the sky, fingers flexed. Claus' gaze was also directed to the sky. Hesitantly, Ness also looked up. And upon doing so, he gasped.

The sky was completely devoid of clouds. It was as if the thunderstorm had never happened. Above them was a strangely dark navy sky. While the sun was visible in the sky, it was dull. And up above the village were three to four little white specks; stars. It became apparent that the stars were moving.

" _Holy shit..._ " Ness murmured to himself. He realized what their attackers had been running from. A sudden muffled whimper from Lucas confirmed his suspects. Ness broke out of his trance and sprinted to his friend, who kept his hands positioned above. His eyes were glassy and clouded. Ness grabbed him from around the waist, "Lucas, stop! Stop, they're gone! It's okay!"

" _P-PK...PK..._ " Lucas slurred, as if he hadn't heard Ness.

"No! Claus, disable his PSI, hurry!"

Claus nodded and rushed behind his brother, sharply jabbing his palm in between his shoulder blades, performing the deactivation spell. Lucas instantly dropped his arms, and fell limp, unconscious. Ness and Claus both caught him, as the sky shifted back to its cloudy gray. After a few seconds, rain began to drizzle back down again. As bewildered villagers gathered around, Claus passed Lucas on to Ness, who held him upright. Claus faced his people and sighed.

"The battle is won, for now. Anyone on guard duty, bring backup. Everyone else, go inside." He ordered. A villager in the crowd perked up.

"But did that Lucas boy really just use PK Starst-"

"That's none of your concern, just follow your orders." Claus interrupted, raising a hand to silence them, "General Storm, survey the surrounding borders."

Ness tensed, as Claus waited for Ninten's reply, but never got it.

"Storm?" Claus asked, looking around. Ness approached him.

"He's in the forest, badly injured. I put him there before he got hurt anymore."

Claus' eyes flashed with immediate worry. He nodded, before giving more instructions, "I need five Healers to retrieve him. I'll come with you. Ness, please take my brother to the hospital wing. We'll figure all of this out there. Unknown, disperse."

* * *

As Lucas slept, Ness sat next to him, observing him with confusion and wonder. The blond's eyes had dark bags under them, and his hair was in a tangle. His slow breathing was raspy and shaky as he breathed in and out in a rhythm. His eyes trailed down to Lucas' hands. The tips of his fingers were caked in soot. Ness shook his head, sighing.

' _First PK Love, now this?_ ' He thought, ' _No wonder you're so exhausted. PK Starstorm can't be an easy thing to do...'_

He looked to the window, where he saw the now dark night sky. The battle had taken place that morning, and Lucas still hadn't woken up. Ever since the spontaneous use of PK Starstorm that quite frankly came out of nowhere, the village had been on edge. Although Lucas had never succeeded in bringing stars out of the sky, as he probably wasn't powerful enough for that yet, he had still initiated it, which was phenomenal. Ness had sat by his side all day, not moving from his spot.

Sympathetic for Lucas and his unbelievable feat, Ness took his hand gently and squeezed it, shivering at how strangely frail it felt now. As he expected, he felt the popping and crackling of electricity nearby, and groaned upon seeing the familiar miniature sparks. He'd grown used to seeing them at this point, and had given up on trying to get rid of them.

The sudden sound of the door opening behind him jolted him to attention. He quickly let go of Lucas' hand, and began swatting away the bothersome sparks. He turned and pretended as if nothing had happened.

"...Claus!" He greeted with fake composure, "Why are you here?"

Claus, who had entered the room suddenly, stood silent and stunned for a few seconds, before smirking and shrugging his shoulders a bit.

"I'm seeing my  _brother?_ " Claus teased.

"Oh, rightrightright. I'm still...y'know. Getting used to that, you guys being twins and all." Ness explained with frantic hand movements. Hoping that Claus wasn't suspicious of him, he changed the subject, "How's Ninten?"

"You did the right thing taking him to the forest like that, that's for sure. He's hurt really bad, but he'll make a smooth recovery," Claus explained, sitting on the chair next to Ness. He clenched his teeth, "I swear, that boy's gonna get himself killed one day. Ninten is incredibly strong and skilled, but...he just doesn't know when to stop sometimes."

"He's doing it for you, though. He got hurt for you. He really, really cares about you." Ness reminded. A content smile crossed Claus' face, and he shifted his eyes to the floor, intertwining his fingers.

"With Ninten, is goes much further than that. See, he doesn't know that I know this, but he doesn't exactly...think of me as a friend." Claus said.

"Huh? But you two seem so close! Did you have a falling out, or-?" Ness paused, taking a few moments to process, before the gears finally started turning and he realized what he was saying, " _Oooohhh!_  Oh, he...? You and him, and...him and you, and..." Ness stammered, not wanting to make Claus uncomfortable.

Claus nodded, "I heard him tell another soldier a while back."

"You should really talk to him about that!" Ness blurted, before putting a hand over his mouth, "Ah! Oh no, I'm sorry, that came out of nowhere...!"

Claus laughed, "It's alright, you're not wrong. I should talk to him about it, it's just..." He trailed off.

"...Do you feel the same way?" Ness asked.

Claus seemed to debate for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it. He sighed, and looked out the window.

"I don't know." He murmured.

"That's alright, you don't have to know. But at least...talk through it. Get that closure." Said Ness.

"W-when I'm ready." Claus decided. He looked at Ness gratefully, "Thank you for saving him. If he got killed, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"Don't mention it." Ness replied.

"No, really...there's a lot of things I have to thank you for." Claus admitted, leaning his elbows on his thighs, "For example, I have to thank you for defending the village today. We outnumbered the enemy by a landslide, but they are tough. Not to mention that Anti-PSI fades during thunderstorms, so we have to rely on our weaker hand-to-hand combat."

"Of course. I know that Onett and Unknown have been on tough terms lately, but I'm not gonna stand by and let a village get attacked like that."

"We're very grateful. Your Psionics proved very useful." Claus smiled, "And of course, I have to thank you for saving Lucas. While you and Ninten were standing watch, he told me everything. You actually risked your life for him?"

Ness shrugged awkwardly, "Well I wasn't gonna let him die, I just..."

"That's insane. You saved my brother, and I will never forget that." Claus took his hand and shook it out of thanks.

"Aww, geez..." Ness sheepishly averted his gaze. The two were caught off guard by Lucas, who shifted around a bit. His brow was furrowed and he seemed to have a troubled look on his face as his hands gripped at the mattress beneath him. Claus scooted closer to him and observed.

"What's happening to him?" Ness asked, concerned.

"Nightmare." Claus concluded, "I don't blame him, after what's been going on." He put his hand on Lucas' forehead, and closed his eyes. Ness watched with interest as Claus concentrated. He felt the two auras connecting. After a while, Lucas' expression turned neutral, and Claus opened his eyes, "There."

"You changed his thoughts from inside his own head..." Ness guessed, having read about the spell in the book he'd stolen.

"Yes, you've been studying." Claus said, casting a playful look at him. He kept his hand on his brother's head, observing his aura. He smiled suddenly, and gave a small laugh, "Oh wow..." He whispered, "...He's in love."

Ness perked up. "Yeah?"

"Mhmm. With..." Claus took a moment, "...Oh, I  _knew_  it."

"With that Nana girl he told me about?" Ness asked, trying not to sound bitter.

"Yep. You know what? One of our old village friends in Tazmily owes me five marbles."

"Huh?"

"We made a bet. I bet him five marbles that Lucas would eventually fall for her. It was so obvious to literally everyone except for those two."

"Heh...that's actually kinda funny," Said Ness, "She makes him really happy. He spent a good long while talking about her the other day."

Claus looked at Ness with a sympathetic smile, before turning his whole body to face him. "You're taking it incredibly well."

"What?"

"Well, seeing as how you feel about Lucas, I mean..."

" _W-what?!_ "

Claus rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. Do you think I'm stupid? Don't think I didn't see you grab him by the arm and zap him when you guys were up on the gallows."

Ness swallowed and hugged himself, remembering the event. He turned away, bashfully.

"That was an accident!"

"Sure, you  _accidentally_  grabbed him and gave him what is basically the Psychic equivalent to a kiss. Okay. Gotcha, I believe you."

" _Hush_ , I was emotional! I thought we were gonna die, 'kay?"

Claus snickered, and patted Ness on the shoulder, "It's okay, it's okay. I think it's really cute. Especially because you've got the sparks for him, don'tcha?"

Ness hung his head, embarrassed, "You saw that?"

"Yeah, sorry. Being a teenage Psychic sucks, doesn't it?" Claus said, "How did Lucas react? Has he seen the sparks yet?"

"I told him it was a medical condition..." Ness admitted shamefully.

Claus stifled a laugh, "He's gonna find out what they mean eventually. Life's a bitch, ain't it? Love is tough."

"Okay, I don't _love_  him, it's just a teeny tiny crush."

"Sparks don't fly for simple crushes, Ness. You know that."

Ness sighed, "...Yeah, I know," He replied. He leaned back in his chair, and put a hand to his temple, "It's just really weird, you know? I've only known him for like, not even two days. Isn't this all a little unrealistic? Doesn't love take time?"

"Not for Psychics, it doesn't. Ness, why is it that Psychics can make friends so easily? Claus challenged.

"Well, duh, it's because of our auras. You can tell who someone is as a person just by sensing it."

"Exactly. I'm not going to pretend I know how love works, but I do know this. Just by observing someone's aura, you can put together exactly who they are in under five seconds. Just by meeting Lucas and getting to know him, you know who he is. For example," Claus trailed off, concentrating a bit.

Ness felt a slight buzz go down his spine, feeling Claus focus on his magical aura. Claus hummed a bit out of acknowledgment, and continued,

"...I can tell that you are a friendly person, who's good at socializing, yes? Let's see...you're a bit self-centered, but you have a good heart for others. You're determined, courageous, and you're always willing to lend a hand," Claus said, "However, you also have little self control. And this is what led you to steal, yes?"

Ness twitched a little and awkwardly rolled his shoulders, "...Maybe."

"Hmm," Claus shifted, "Ninten tells me that he witnessed you performed some highly advanced Anti-Psionic magic earlier. PK Bend, wasn't it? How long did that take?"

"Better part of a year, actually."

"I see. You must've learned it from that book." Claus guessed, "You want to learn Anti-PSI, don't you?"

"Kinda. Actually, more like a lot. I may or may not have...y'know, a goal. And I know it sounds dumb and childish and all, but..." Ness hesitated, "...I want to become the greatest Psychic the world has ever known. And I hoped that maybe, knowing both normal PSI and Anti-PSI would get me there."

"So that's why." Claus murmured, as if in deep thought, "Your goal is not farfetched. You're incredibly gifted for someone of your age, you know."

"Yeah, but you're a year younger than me, and you almost kicked my ass the other day." Ness replied.

"That's because I was trained in Anti-PSI, and they worked me to the bone. You're learning on your own, yes? Where you're at now, most beginner Psychics would take about two years. I may have almost kicked your ass, but you put up a crazy good fight."

"Heh, I guess..." Ness said, "...But then there's this kid." He gestured to Lucas, who still slept peacefully, "PK Love and PK Starstorm? It's already rare to be able to do one of those! He's had his powers for not even a few days, and he's already farther than I am."

"I'll admit, Lucas can do things that you and I will most likely never be able to do. But like everyone else, he has his weaknesses. For example, I want you to think about this. Will he ever understand PSI as much as you?" Claus challenged, crossing his arms.

"Um..." Ness wondered, "Well, give him some time, and he might."

"I don't think so. He's going to grow up into something phenomenal, there's no doubt. But at the end of the day, he was raised as a human, on human standards, and with a human mindset. He'll never quite understand Psionics the way you do, or anyone else at Onett."

Ness didn't reply at first. He thought for a moment, nodding his head a bit, somewhat understanding.

"I mean, I guess."

"You guess right. I get it, it's hard not to be jealous. I'll admit, I'm kinda envious that you managed to learn PK Bend so quickly." Claus said sheepishly.

"Really? How long did it take you?" Ness asked.

"A year and a half. I don't think your goal is unrealistic at all, seeing where you are now. You're very talented, Ness. Ninten thinks so, too." Claus said.

"Where you supposed to tell me that last part?" Ness smirked.

"Sssh. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Claus winked.

With that, Claus stretched his arms above his head with a slight grunt. Ness audibly heard the crackling of bones in his body, figuring that Claus was incredibly strained. Claus stood up, taking one last look at the night outside. He then looked down at Ness and smiled.

"Good talk, Ness. You're interesting." Claus remarked, "However, being the legal authority of this town, I'm basically required to enforce legal actions on you."

"Yeah, yeah, gimme a sentence. I just have to get Lucas to Onett first, then I'll come back and-"

"No, I'm not gonna put you in jail. I was thinking of something else." Claus said.

Ness narrowed his eyes and backed up a little bit, heart pounding and face heating up, "Okay, Claus, dude. You're really cool and all, but I'm not that kind of guy. I don't think-"

" _No,_  that's not what I meant!" Claus interrupted, "What are you, _twelve?_  I meant community service."

"...Oh!" Ness sighed in relief, "Okay, okayokayokay. Yeah, I'm fine with doing stuff, I guess. What do you need?"

"Well, a lot of our children are going into training soon. And like I said, thunderstorms and rain in general affects Anti-PSI, and makes it harder to use. But not normal PSI, though. So that'd be a useful skill to learn, don't you think? And I know someone who would be great at teaching it." Claus suggested, leaning back against the wall.

"Wait, me? You want me to teach PSI?" Ness asked, marveled, "Is that possible, for Anti-Psychics to learn it?"

"Only in younger years, as their powers are developing. Anti-PSI is accessed earlier than your abilities. Once you reach sixteen as an Anti-Psychic, they're developed, and you can't learn PSI. But as children, they'll be able to. Now of course, you don't have to do that, if you're bad with kids." Claus suggested.

"I'll have you know that I'm amazing with kids, and I'll be the best teacher you've ever seen!" Ness insisted, voice full of confidence.

"Perfect, then it's settled. Onett's portal opens for a week at a time, yes? You will be escorted each month to our village, where you'll stay for said week, then you will be escorted back. I'll make sure you're provided with proper hospitality and housing. And who knows, maybe when Lucas' powers unfold as time goes on, perhaps you'll have a co-teacher." Claus said. The two boys shook hands, sealing the agreement.

"Sounds great!" Ness grinned, before standing up himself, "Well, um...I really like talking to you, but I've got to get rest. Lucas and I have a lot of missed ground to cover tonight."

"Surely you don't have to leave right away? Onett's already so close, at least a three hour trip. Maybe stay the night?" Claus replied, his voice somewhat low spirited.

"I know, you wanna spend more time with Lucas. But it really is better we get there sooner rather than later, I'd rather we leave the moment he wakes up. How about this; I'll bring him with me when I start teaching here, yeah?"

"Yes, of course, you're both welcome..." Claus nodded, "You're right, you have a long journey ahead of you. Th-thank you, again. For everything."

"Forget about it, it's nothin'." Ness assured, "And about Lucas, um...?"

"My lips are sealed, no one finds out." Claus said.

"Thank you." Ness put his hands together in prayer position. Claus snickered.

"I'll be off, then."

"See you."

In a bit of an awkward shuffle, Claus hastily left the room, leaving Ness alone with his sleeping friend. Ness watched the door for a moment, before glancing back at Lucas. The younger boy was peacefully laying there, on his right side, chest slowly rising and falling. Ness reached over to brush his hair out of his face, and observed him. Though his face was covered in dried blood and scratches, he was still as perfect as ever. His lips were parted ever so slightly, and his blond eyelashes reflected the moon's light. Ness sighed out of helplessness.

' _Claus was right,_ ' Ness thought to himself, ' _Sparks fly for love. This really is how I'm feeling, isn't it?_ '

He slowly leaned over and gingerly kissed Lucas' forehead, staying there for a few seconds, before backing away again. Lucas seemed to stir ever so slightly, to Ness' surprise.

'.. _.Nh_..." Lucas just barely murmured something unintelligible. Ness began to silently panic, hoping his friend hadn't been awake to feel any of that. To his relief, Lucas continued to softly whisper a long string of words, but was still sound asleep.

"Sssh, you're sleeptalking, " Ness whispered, rubbing his back. He shivered, feeling scabbed over scratches and other wounds underneath his shirt. Overcome with emotion, he softly added, "...I love you."

"You too..." Lucas breathed back, eyes still closed. Ness felt a small flutter in his heart, but ignored it.

"No, I didn't mean like that, Lucas, I..." Ness trailed off, remembering that Lucas was asleep. He bit his lip, frustrated, before running a stressed hand through his night coloured hair, "Y-yeah. Thanks." He replied, knowing Lucas couldn't hear him.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Ness hid his face in his hands and sighed once again. Part of him hoped that Lucas somehow knew what kind of love he'd meant. Part of him hoped that somehow, Lucas possibly felt that same feeling. Chest aching, he slowly stood up and silently left the room, knowing that there was simply no way. Lucas' heart was dedicated to someone else, after all. And that was just something Ness would have to live with.

* * *

By the time the sun had just disappeared and night fell upon them, Lucas was already up and about, interacting with villagers and exploring the town, which seemed to thrive more at night. When Ness had woken up from accidentally drifting off to hear Lucas' voice, he'd never been so relieved.

"Lucas!" He called once heading outside, where his friend was surrounded by several young children.

"Hm?" Lucas perked up, "Oh, you're awake! I'm assuming you want to get going?"

"That would be the plan." Ness said.

Several distressed sounds came from the young villagers, who tugged at Lucas' jacket desperately.

"Come on, not yet! You haven't finished your tale! What happened after you escaped the falling tree?" Cried one of the younger girls.

"We want to know what happens!" Begged another.

"Oh, I want to stay just as much as you all want me to, but I have to get going! I promise, I'll visit as soon as I can, then I can finish the story." Lucas assured. This seemed to satisfy the children, as they willingly let him go. Lucas made his way over to Ness, who already had both of their bags in his grasp.

"I believe this is yours." Ness presented Lucas with his leather carrier.

"Thank you." Lucas smiled and shrugged it on.

"My pleasure." Ness replied, affectionately punching him softly in the shoulder.

"Ah, so you two are already off on your way?" A voice from behind them alerted the two, "Well, don't even think of going without at least saying goodbye."

"Ninten, look at you!" Ness jogged over to the second in command, who was now up on his feet and just as lively as ever, "You're all better now. That's a relief to see."

"Takes a lot more than a few battle scars to knock this guy over." Ninten boasted, brushing his hands together, "So, you're leaving. You coming back at all? Maybe you can play the thief, and I'll play the annoyed Vice. Oh,  _wait a minute!_ " Ninten teased.

"Save it for later, 'Ten." Ness snickered. Ninten suddenly took both of his hands, giving him a sincere look.

"I have to thank you for saving my life," Ninten shrugged, "I owe you one. Just say the word, and consider it done."

"Aw, no need. By the way, I never quite apologized for...y'know. Committing multiple counts of thievery and trespassing. Sorry about that."

"Sorry for trying to kill you multiple times, I guess. Friends?"

Ninten held out his hand, and Ness shook it, smiling.

"'Till the end." He confirmed.

"Alright, break it up, you two. At least take each other out to dinner first." It was Claus who suddenly approached them. Ninten rolled his eyes, while Ness approached Claus, Lucas at his side.

"Thanks for letting us stay here." Ness began.

"Really, we appreciate it. And Claus," Lucas walked forward and hugged his brother, "I'm so happy you're _here._  If only dad could be here to see you."

Claus gave him a bittersweet smile once he pulled away, and cupped his face with his hand, "He'll see us again one day, I'm sure."

"Of course. Positive thinking." Lucas nodded, "It's late, we really should be going."

"Lucas, um..." Claus blurted, "...Y'know...I know you aren't an Anti-Psychic, but...maybe...? You could always stay here, with us. W-with me."

Lucas' eyes brightened, "Really? You mean I could stay here if I wanted to?"

Ness struggled not to let the despair show on his face. He pleaded to heaven and back that Lucas wouldn't agree. Lucas, at first, seemed to consider the idea. But then, he turned to look at Ness. He grinned a bit, and shook his head.

"Sorry, Claus," Lucas began, "But Onett is the place for me. Unknown is the place for you."

Ness' spirits instantly lifted, and Claus nodded, understanding.

"Of course, I get it. You belong there, with Ness." Claus said, "But you be sure to visit, yes? Ness was just hired yesterday as one of our new trainers, so perhaps you could accompany him each month."

"Was he, now? That'd be great!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Oh, speaking of teaching..." Ness began to dig around in his bag, searching through its contents for a short while, before pulling out a large object; a book, "I should really give this back. It's the advanced manual. I never got past the first few pages, but...it's yours. Sorry I took it."

He held the book out towards Claus, who raised an eyebrow. He observed Ness' offer for a short while, before smiling, shaking his head, and pushing it back towards Ness.

"Keep it." Claus said, "You already show good potential for learning Anti-PSI, this ought to help you grow in your studies."

Ness stared back at him with wide, stunned eyes, before clutching the book to his chest, grinning uncontrollably, "You're serious?! I can have it? Thank you! It'll be put to good use!"

Claus nodded, "I believe you." He straightened up, projecting his voice, "Well, then, you must be off. I'll be seeing the two of you next month, yes?"

"Absolutely!" Ness confirmed. Lucas bowed his head in agreement.

"Alright. I'll have some of my soldiers escort you to our border, but that's as far as we can take you. Remember to beware of rogues. Hopefully, they didn't see your faces under your hoods in the battle yesterday, but they may have memorized your auras," Claus reached into his coat and brought out a small, tightly wrapped package, "Here. This contains some bandages, some rations, and some incense. From us to you."

"Aww, that's really sweet! Thanks," Lucas took the gift and put it in his bag.

"We'll be seeing you, I guess." Ness shrugged.

"Of course. I'll need five soldiers to get these boys to the border pathway that nears Onett. Make sure no harm comes to them." Claus ordered, as a cluster of soldiers broke off from the nearby crowd and surrounded the two travelers. "Good luck on the rest of your journey, you two. I look forward to your first visit next month."

"Me too! See you around, Ninten." Ness called over his shoulder as he began to walk with his escorts.

Ninten only bashfully crossed his arms and turned away, but shot a quick smirk at Ness when no one was looking. Ness only smirked back, before turning around. As he and Lucas waved goodbye to several villagers, the excitement and adrenaline once again coursed through their bodies. They only had a short way to go now.

"So," Lucas murmured to him from the side, "Teaching, huh?"

"Yep." Ness replied, proudly.

"Bit of a step up from 'wanted criminal'."

"I'll say," Ness paused, "Hey, you okay? I know it's kinda tough, finding out your dead brother is actually alive, finding out you possess not one, but two incredibly rare powers, nearly dying in a battle...and then leaving the very next day."

"It's...a little hard, but I'll manage," Lucas said, as the sounds of the village got quieter and quieter as they strayed farther away, "Besides, what else could happen? I've had enough 'finding out  _this_  is actually  _this_ ' for now."

"Understandable." Ness agreed.

The trek to Unknown's border wasn't a long one. As if no time had passed, the group had already come across the magic-marked border, and the continuation of the pathway.

"This is where we must leave you," Said one of the soldiers, "We wish you luck on your travels."

"Thank you, goodbye!" Lucas waved as the soldiers departed, heading back to the village. He watched them go for a while, as if tempted to run back to the town. Ness waited patiently.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm just..." Lucas murmured, "...Still shocked. I mean, Claus is alive." He laughed a bit, "Whatever, we'd better get going. Take our minds off of things."

The next ten minutes or so went by in silence, filled only by the various forest noises and crunching of leaves beneath their footsteps. The whole time, all Lucas could think about was everything that had occurred in the past 24 hours. He was tempted to run back into the village territory to confirm that what he'd seen was true, that Claus really was still alive. But somehow, he managed to calm the urge. All that mattered now was finishing the journey.

Beside him, Ness had his own thoughts to deal with. He found himself thinking about what had happened when the two were mere seconds away from death the previous day. A heavy blush covered his face as he thought about how he'd taken Lucas by the arm and let a tiny electric zap connect the two for just a moment. That had been his first time doing so with another person. He let his mind wander to when he'd told Lucas exactly how he felt, while the blond was half asleep. He remembered Lucas' response.

" _'You too.'_ " Ness thought, still frustrated, ' _Dangit, Lucas. That's not the kind of love I meant._ '

Before Ness could think anymore, the boys were distracted by an out-of-place feeling. There was no noise, but each of them could sense something. A dark, uneasy feeling swept over the two as they realized they were surrounded by familiar auras. Ness and Lucas slowly made eye contact, sharing a knowing look.

" _Are those...?_ " Lucas asked, using Telepathy.

" _Yep._ " Ness confirmed, " _Rogues. A small group of 'em._ " He reached into his bag and pulled out the eye masks and hoods he'd borrowed from Unknown before, handing one pair to Lucas, who put it on quickly.

" _Are you kidding me?! Can we get like...a break, for once?_ " Lucas cried, putting the hood over his face.

" _C'mon, we can take them. Get your PSI ready._ "

The two went back to back, each preparing their own Psionic attack. The forest seemed to go silent for a moment. The only sounds Lucas could hear was his own pulse, and the slight tinkling sounds caused by the ice crystals forming in his hand.

" _Careful, they're closer than you think. How many do you think there are?_ " Ness quizzed, trying to train Lucas more.

" _...I'd guessing about five, but..._ " Lucas paused, " _...Ness, something isn't right. There's one that isn't a Psychic of any kind, like it's a human or something!_ "

" _No time to think about it, there's one comin' at you from the right!_ "

Before Ness had even finished his sentence, Lucas had already sensed the attack from the side, and instinctively threw his hands to the right, sending an icy wave of frost blowing into the forest. To his relief, his sudden attacker was struck by the blast, and was sent flying back into the trees. A few spatters of blood hit the trees, sending a shiver down Lucas' spine. He hadn't meant for the attack to be so forceful. To his sudden horror, he saw Ness being hit from behind, but his friend quickly recovered from the impact and pivoted around, thrusting his right foot up in a front kick, causing his opponent to stumble.

"This is a really bad time, you guys...!" Ness shouted as the two of them were surrounded by at least five enemies clad in the familiar dark hoods, splatted with white acid burns. Lucas spotted the one he'd previously hit with his ice attack; they had visible streams of blood running down their face.

"Oh god..." He muttered under his breath. He swallowed nervously and held his hands above his head, putting as much confidence in his voice as possible, "Y-you'd better back off! If you don't recognize me, I'm the one who sent all of you running off yesterday!"

The surrounding group of rogues seemed to tense up a bit, before one spoke out, "You're the one who used PK Starstorm?"

"That would be him," Ness replied, "If I were you, I'd book it before he shows you what he can really do."

Their attackers took a step back, to Lucas' relief. As they seemed to debate fighting them, Lucas examined the one enemy who didn't seem to have an aura. They stood just near him. Rather than holding their hands up in a Psionic combat position, they had two fists raised, ready for hand-to-hand.

' _What's up with that one...?_ ' Lucas wondered.

"No matter what he can do, there's two of you, and five of us." Said another Rogue, "I think we can handle ourselves. Attack!"

"N-no! Stay back! PK Freeze!" Lucas, frightened, circled both himself and Ness with a border of ice shards, which shot up from the ground, acting as a wall of protection. The attack sent more blades of ice flying outwards. A sudden groan of pain alerted Lucas, who looked up in time to see the previously injured Rogue clutching their chest. Ness backed up towards Lucas and grabbed his hand, as if to help him mentally prepare for what he was about to realize.

Lucas saw that his enemy was grabbing at a stray ice shard that had pierced through their clothing, into their chest. Contrasting against the cotton white ice, Lucas could see blood begin to pour. As realization and horror rushed over Lucas within seconds, he gasped.

"O-oh no...!" He cried, clenching his fist and melting the surrounding ice into water, "I'm sorry, I panicked! Listen, let me help! I have bandages..." He began to search through his bag for the bandages gifted to him from Claus.

"No, back away! Close your eyes, it's fine..." Ness grabbed his friend and pulled him back away from his unintentional victim. Lucas struggled to break free, but forced himself to watch as his opponent dropped to their knees, eventually falling to the side, motionless. Lucas froze, his eyes widening.

The area was silent, everyone staring at the limp Rogue, searching for any signs of life. Upon realizing the reality, Lucas put both hands to his mouth, and began to take in deep breaths. Ness, to keep his friend from collapsing out of shock, kept a tight grip on his shoulders.

"No, nononononono, I didn't mean to do that...! Ness, we gotta help them...!" Lucas whimpered, staggering a bit.

"Listen, you didn't mean to, and you want to help, I know, but he's-" Ness insisted, interrupting himself when he looked up to meet the shocked faces of the other opponents. Still keeping his grasp on Lucas, he took in a deep breath and spoke, "Y-you see? He's powerful!"

"That was a lucky hit! He killed him based on _luck_ , that's it!" To the pair's surprise, it was the Rogue lacking an aura who spoke. Judging by the voice, it was a female.

Lucas had barely any time to react; she threw herself at him, pushing Ness away, only focusing on Lucas. She began the sudden battle with a roundhouse, which struck Lucas' arm. He stumbled, but regained his balance quickly.

"Hey newbie, stop it! Let us handle it!" Cried one of the onlookers.

"I can take him!" Shouted the apparently new member of the Rogue gang. Lucas was quickly wrestled to the ground, but she could only pin him down for a few moments. He forced her on her back and laid across her torso, grabbing her arm and hyperextending it in an armbar. She flinched in pain, but continued to struggle.

Around the two, the bystanders shouted protests, while Ness gave cries of encouragement. Lucas was eventually thrown off by his opponent, who rolled backwards onto her feet, dodging a lightning attack shot by Lucas, who also got to his feet and reared back, prepared to strike again. To his surprise, the opponent reached back, and slowly drew out a long, wooden pole.

"Oh god, we're bringing weapons into this?" Lucas groaned, "Have it your way." Angered at this point, he performed PK Freeze one more time, and constructed his own pole out of ice, as he'd seen Ness do before.

" _Good call, Luc._ " Ness suddenly told him through his thoughts, " _But be careful. PSI generated ice isn't completely unbreakable._ "

" _Gotcha._ " Replied Lucas, as he began to circle the other fighter. He stared into her eyes, which were glowing bright blue. For a split second, the two shared a different kind of emotion. Lucas was caught off guard for just a moment, and was suddenly enraptured by her gaze. She seemed to waver as well, but quickly shook it off, and once again lunged at her opponent.

"He-ya!" Lucas brought his weapon upwards just as the opposite stick was aimed at him, and the wood and ice colliding sounded a loud crack. His opponent shifted again, and a sudden thrust meant for his chest sped by in a blur as Lucas sidestepped. However, now that his enemy was behind him, she had time to whirl around, crashing her weapon into Lucas' back, knocking him forwards onto his knees. Lucas somersaulted forwards, jetting a straightened leg upwards and making contact with her shoulder. To his relief, he felt the slight shift of bones, and knew that he had caused some sort of damage. His enemy didn't let it show, however, for she simply grit her teeth and carried on through the pain. Lucas shot up just in time to block another attack. A sharp sting ran through his arms as the weapons once again made contact. He drew in a pained breath, and pushed as hard as he could against the force of his enemy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement; the remaining Rogues were fleeing. None of them seemed to have any damage, and Ness still stood where he had been before, knowing that he would cause more harm than good if he interfered. Perhaps they had given up, he thought. A sudden crack alerted him, and he looked back to see that his weapon of ice was breaking. His opponent smirked, before drawing back for just a second, and slamming back into Lucas. In that second, his weapon shattered into several pieces. Having lost his control on the ice, the shards melted, leaving him with nothing. He was sent back to the ground with a harsh kick to the chest. He hit the ground dazed, being unable to open his eyes for a few moments. But when he opened them again, he looked up to see the shorter girl pinning him down with her foot, her wooden pole pointed straight down at him.

He raised his hands up in defense, as if to surrender. She smiled a bit, out of victory, but she didn't move. Her chest heaved as he panted. Somehow, Lucas felt charmed by her demeanor. He grinned a bit, giving a nervous laugh.

"You...you're fast, heh..." He smirked, eyebrows raised.

"Not so bad yourself." The girl murmured back.

"Not so bad, huh? I'm not so bad at a  _lot_  of things."

Ness' jaw dropped, and his arms fell to his sides. He stared at Lucas with utter disbelief.

"Seriously?! You're  _flirting?_  Now?!  _She tried to kill you!_ "

Lucas ignored his friend, forgetting that this was an enemy for a moment. Grunting, he shifted upwards and propped himself up a bit with his elbows. As he did so, his hood fell back, exposing his slightly disheveled hair.

His opponent let out a small gasp, and to his surprise, lifted her foot off of his chest, but still kept her pole pointed at him. Her eyes widened. Lucas looked back up at her, confused. He looked at Ness, who shrugged. The girl bent down slightly and narrowed her eyes, seeming to examine Lucas up and down. After a few moments of silence, she took in a small breath, before speaking.

" _...Lucas?_ " She whispered.

Lucas' heart nearly stopped; he knew that voice. His pulse began to quicken as he realized who he was looking back at. From inside the girl's hood, a lock of sunshine-yellow hair snuck out, gently blowing in the breeze. Lucas felt a single tear leave his eye, as he began to half cry, half laugh.

" _Oh my god..._ " He breathed, as he shifted into a sitting position. The girl gave a shaky laugh as well, as she carefully helped him up. Lucas reached over and drew back her hood, and slipped off her mask, showing her face. His pulse rushed, as he looked back at the only thing for beautiful than seeing Claus alive.

He was looking back at Nana.


	4. Don't Forget Me

Lucas, overwhelmed with joy, grabbed Nana's arms to steady himself.

"Nana!" He cried.

"Lucas!" Replied Nana, grabbing his arms as well.

" _Nana!_ " Lucas repeated, overcome with joy. He fastened his arms around Nana's waist and lifted her up into a hug, spinning her around a few times. The two began to excitedly talk over each other, desperately grasping at each other in relief. Eventually, when they ran out of breath to speak anymore, they simply hugged again, squeezing as tightly as they could. After a few seconds, Lucas finally managed to speak.

"I can't believe it...!" He breathed, voice trembling, "I thought I'd never see you again..."

"But here we are." Nana murmured. She pulled away and cupped his cheek, looking him in the eye. She began to tear up, "I-I can't believe this...! You were dying, and there was blood everywhere, a-and then you were just... _gone!_  You just disappeared...I thought you died, I..."

"But I didn't! I'm alive, you see?" Lucas took her hand and pressed it to his chest, "My heart's beating."

Nana bit her lip and nodded, as more and more tears trailed down her dirt stained cheeks. "It is."

"And now you're here, with me..." Lucas said.

"I can't quite believe it either!" Nana exclaimed, "Oh, Lucas, I'm...I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have gone with Fuel, he made me come into the forest with him...a-and then the knife, and...oh no, this is my fault, isn't it?"

"Nana, of course not! This isn't your fault, alright? Hey, look at me." Lucas wiped a bit of wetness off of her face with his thumb, and guided her to look at him again. He gave her a reassuring smile, shaking his head, " _This is not your fault._ " He repeated. Nana only nodded. Although she was a mess of tears at this point, she still smiled. She stared, completely lovestruck for a few more moments, before giving a weak laugh again.

"You're...just as handsome as I remember...?" She shrugged, trying to lighten the mood. Lucas snickered, furrowing his brow.

"It's been two days." He replied.

"Yeah, but...you've changed." Nana said, "You're more daring. You just about beat me to a pulp no more than a minute or two ago."

"Oh god, that's right...! Sorry about that, I, uh...didn't know it was you." Lucas grinned, touching his forehead to hers. They shared another moment of laughter together, and the world around them seemed to blur. With the force of a feather, he put his hand on the back of her neck, leaned forwards, and let their lips press together. Nana's eyes drifted closed, and she put a hand on Lucas' shoulder. For the few seconds they stayed there, nothing existed except for themselves.

Meanwhile, to the side, Ness stood, hands in his pockets. Upon seeing the kiss happen, he began to feel a mix of emotions that definitely didn't fit together. He smiled, happy and relieved that Lucas had found the person who made him happy, but on the inside, everything was hurting. He sighed and gripped at his legs from the inside of his pockets. He'd already been mentally prepared for it, and it still felt awful. Even after Lucas and Nana had parted, the ache still remained in his heart. He kept a confident smile on his face however, as he walked towards them. His walk felt awkward and stiff.

"So," Ness began, "You found her."

Lucas' eyes instantly lit up upon remembered Ness was still there. Excited, he jogged towards him, pulling Nana by the hand along with him.

"Ness, can you believe it?! She's here! She's  _okay!_ " Lucas cried, affectionately touching his friend's arm.

"So she is." Ness nodded, giving the two a weak smile. He tipped his head in acknowledgment towards Nana, "You must be Nana. Lucas here has told me loads about you."

Nana did a small, playful curtsy, "That's me! Just what  _did_  Lucas tell you? I hope  _not too much._ " She sneered, casting a suspicious look at Lucas.

"I didn't tell him anything  _mindblowing_ , don't worry." Lucas clarified, "Nana, you'll like this guy. This is Ness, he saved me after what happened in Tazmily. I wouldn't be alive if he hadn't stepped in." He gestured to Ness, who gave an unsure wave.

Nana gasped quietly and brought her hands to her face, her eyes flashing in shock, " _You_  saved him?  _You_  saved my Lucas?" She asked. Without giving Ness a chance to answer, she put her hands to her heart, "Oh my goodness, what a  _sweetheart...!_  Can I hug you?"

"U-um, I guess- _oof...!_ " Ness barely got to finish, as Nana had already jumped to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms tightly around him, nearly crushing him to death. Ness froze, unsure of what to do, and casting a nervous glance at Lucas, who shrugged apologetically.

"Thank you,  _thank you_  so much. Lucas is alive because of you! You're  _wonderful!_  Oh, oops...Jesus, sorry for squishing you, heh!" Nana quickly backed away once realizing that Ness was unable to breathe. Ness, in order to stay polite, hid the fact that he was catching his breath, and shook his head.

"No, no, it's fine..." He panted.

"Ah, okay, good. I was afraid I may have squeezed too hard," Nana dipped her head and backed up a few steps, back beside Lucas. She looked around, realizing that the three of them were alone. Brushing a lone strand of hair out of her face, she furrowed her brow, "Huh, the others left?"

"Said something about 'not wanting to deal with the newbie right now'. Nana, um...no offense, but you care to explain why you joined an  _Unknown Rogue_  gang?" Ness asked, taking a step forward, gesturing to her black and white hood.

Nana gave him a confused look and looked down at the hood, before quickly shrugging it off and tossing it to the side, exposing her now tied up pink dress, which was fastened around her legs to make movement easier. As she did this, Lucas cast a sort of glare at Ness, as if to warn him to watch his mouth.

"A gang? Oh, no no no. You don't understand, they're a village. They told me so." Nana explained.

"Uh... _no,_  they are a band of past villagers from some territory a distance away from here. Their whole thing is about attacking random travelers, and they  _do not like us._  You  _joined_  them?" Ness asked out of disbelief.

" _Ness,_ " Lucas warned, giving him the look again, "She didn't know, alright?"

"Don't ' _Ness_ ' me, she willingly joined an enemy gang!" Ness replied, gesturing to Nana, who stood a few feet away. She still had a smile on her face, but it was nervous and wavering.

"Oooookay, you know what? Nana, if you would just give us a few minutes over here, alone, so I can go talk to Ness for a second, yeah? Perfect, thank you..." As Lucas said this, he grabbed Ness' arm with a questionable amount of force, dragging him out of ear shot of Nana. Ness struggled the whole time, but eventually gave up and willingly walked with him. Lucas eventually let go, and let his arms fall to his sides, irritated, " _What_  is your problem?"

"Lucas, I don't think I like this. You saw what she could do, she nearly ripped you a new one back there. She shows up with Rogues, of all people?  _Rogues_ , Lucas! The people who tried to kill us yesterday! She willingly joined them!" Ness urged in a forced whisper.

"Of course she willingly joined them, she's alone and afraid! Ness, she's never taken a step outside of Tazmily, she has no idea what's going on. She has no idea who those guys are, and what they do. She probably joined them because they offered her a place to stay!" Lucas insisted in the same whispered tone.

"She tried to  _kill_  you." Ness hissed.

"Because she didn't recognize me, and because  _I_  killed one of her friends! Why do you have such a problem with her, you didn't seem to have a problem with Paula!" Lucas protested, motioning towards the motionless body that still lay a good distance away from them. Ness, unable to find an argument, rolled his eyes and turned around. Lucas stamped his foot in frustration and followed him, "Ness, what would you do if you were in a gigantic forest, alone, not knowing where you were? Remember, she doesn't have PSI. She can't survive on her own out here."

"And that's another thing, Lucas!" Ness pivoted around to face him again, "She's a  _human_ , look at her!"

Lucas blinked, shocked for a moment, before raising his hands out of disbelief, " _That's_  what this is about? She's a human, so what?!"

"You know humans, Lucas, they're all the same. Always out to get you, constantly at your throat!"

"What?!" Lucas accidentally broke out of his whisper, alerting Nana, but quickly returned to his hushed voice, "Ness, are you kidding?! I thought I knew you, I didn't think you were...one of _those._ "

"One of _what?_ "

"One of  _those!_  The exact same type of people who started the war! This is exactly the kind of thinking that gives Psychics a bad name!" Lucas insisted, "How do you think the innocent ones feel, being treated the same way you were treated by them?!"

"That's different, alright? They did  _horrible_  things to us!"

"Exactly, it can't happen again! What if the tables turn, Ness? What if one day, it's  _humans_  being hunted down?"

"Good, then." Ness turned again, not wanting to face Lucas. Lucas' eyes widened. His hands began to shake slightly, but he kept himself grounded.

" _You think this'll fix anything?_ " He called, no caring if he was whispering or not. Ness stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. Lucas continued to glare at him, fists clenched. When Ness didn't answer, he continued, "That's how you want things to go? Revenge, is that it? Revenge taken on hundreds of future human generations, just because of some mistakes their ancestors made?"

Ness continued to be silent, and stayed where he was. Hidden from Lucas was his face, which showed the mixed expressions of debating and annoyance.

Lucas proceeded, "Wouldn't everything be so much better if everyone just...lived? Why would you want to repeat history, why would you want a future filled with even more pain _?_ " He paused for a short while, not expecting an answer, "Ness, this isn't the way to go. The worst way to fight hate is with even more hate. I'm not going to pretend I understand the whole world, I've only been to a few villages in my whole life. But in each of those villages were  _good people,_  Ness. Good people, with a bad mindset. Hating Psychics...it's what we're  _taught_. We had entire  _classes_  on how to fight them off. And we let it happen, because we're children, and we're taught to think like this! Tell me, Ness. What were you raised to think?"

Ness bit his lip. Still not turning around, he took a deep breath, and spoke, "...We were taught...to hate humans. That all of them were the same."

"You see? It's just how you were taught to think. Ness, I can guarantee what I'm about to say. A book I owned told me there's over 7 billion people on this Earth right now, about half of that population being humans. I'm certain that there are definitely humans out there who don't think like this."

"And how do you know? You've barely taken a step outside of this country, how can you confirm that?" Ness challenged.

"Can you  _debunk_  it? Don't pretend you understand the world too!" Lucas countered. Ness, once again, said nothing. Lucas sighed, "Ness, please. I get it, what humans did to yo- _...us_ , was terrible. But that was years ago, and I'm sure that there's at least one human who doesn't hate us. And there's one standing right over there."

Ness finally swallowed his pride and slowly turned around, step by step, and saw Lucas pointing his thumb back at Nana, who was aimlessly wandering around, having no idea about the conversation the two were having. He observed her closely. Each step she took was light and graceful. She looked around at the forest surrounding her with wide, fascinated, innocent eyes. Ness took a deep breath, before casting his gaze to the ground.

"She'll never understand." He muttered. Lucas' eyes softened, and he approached his friend.

"Of course she won't, she never will. But god dammit, she's  _trying._   _I'm trying._  I'm trying so hard, Ness, to understand Psychics and what we're all about. Can't  _you_  at least _try_  to understand humans?" Lucas pleaded.

Ness locked onto Lucas' desperate eyes, which stared back up at him, sending a chill up his spine. He ran a hand through his hair, which was still covered in mud and grass.

' _Am I jealous? Is that it?_ ' He wondered, ' _No, she didn't steal him. He was always hers..._ '

He couldn't say Lucas was wrong, because he wasn't. Fighting fire with fire wasn't the way to go. Ness hated the human race with all his heart, but then again, he'd only met a few in his life. He thought back to Paula;  _she_  was a human, and she saved them. He looked at Nana once again. She'd embraced the both of them with no hesitation. After several moments of debating back and forth with himself, he finally sighed, glancing back at Lucas.

"Okay." He murmured, "Okay, I'll try to understand. She can travel with us."

" _Thank_  you. You don't even need to understand, she just needs support. She's terrified, Ness. I promise, you won't regret this!" Lucas grabbed Ness' arm and shook it slightly out of excitement.

" _But,_ " Ness pointed out, "She can't come to Onett with us."

Lucas' smile faded only a little, and he gazed towards the ground, " _That_  I get. She wouldn't be safe there."

As Lucas tried to search for another answer, Ness already had one, he just wasn't sure if he wanted to say it. But upon seeing the hopelessness in Lucas' face, he realized that all he cared about was finding a safe place for the girl he cared about the most. Ness bit his lip.

"She could go to Podunk." He suggested, slightly regretting it afterwards, but forcing himself to accept it. Lucas perked up a little.

"Poe-duck?"

" _'Podunk'_ , it's a human city not too far from us. If she can read a map, she can get herself there from Onett. It's kind of big, a little flashy and loud, but she'd be welcome there, I bet."

"And it's a  _city?_  She'd love it there! Perfect, that's where she'll go! Come on, we've got a lot of ground to cover." Lucas grabbed Ness' wrist and enthusiastically pulled him back to where Nana stood patiently. As they ran, Lucas cast a grateful look back at him. Ness felt a spark crackle beside his face.

"Lucas, is everything alright?" Nana asked, somewhat concerned, as the two ran towards her.

"Yes, everything is perfect!" Lucas exclaimed, before turning to Ness, "...Ness? Would you maybe wanna take over?"

Ness nodded slightly, hesitating, before sighing, "Sorry I...y'know, freaked out..."

"No, I get it! Don't apologize, it's fine!" Nana assured with a nervous laugh.

"G-good, thanks..." Ness nodded, "Anyways, here's the deal. You can travel with us, of course. But Lucas needs to be taken to a certain town, Onett, where he'll be safe. That's what I'm here for; I'm his escort there. But the thing is, it's populated entirely by Psychics. So...you can probably put two and two together as to where I'm going with this."

Nana's eyes shifted to the ground, and she drew in her lower lip, bowing her head, "I can't live there."

"It's only because it wouldn't be safe for you. Not everyone there is like Ness, and if we randomly brought a human girl with us, then..." Lucas said, attempting to justify the decision.

"It's all a matter of safety." Ness concluded, "However, not far from my town, there's a human city. You can go there!"

"A big village." Lucas clarified to her, knowing she didn't know the word 'city' yet.

"One of those? Really? I've always wanted to live in one of those..." Nana's face lit up for just a moment, before going back to it's original state, "...But I was always hoping Lucas would be there with me."

"This is just the way it has to be, Nana," Lucas approached her and took her hands, "I want to be with you  _forever_ , it's just...Onett's the only place I'll be safe in. It's where my mom grew up, and it's where I want to be. If I came with you, then...everything that happened in Tazmily that night, it would happen again. And what if I don't survive this time?"

"I know, I know...you need to be able to live safely..." Nana said, "...Will I ever get to see you?"

"Of course, yes! Onett has a portal, you see. And it opens up for a week every month. During that week, we can meet up in the forest! A-and you know what? We can go Unknown territory, and visit...!" Lucas cut himself off, quieting down, "...Never mind, I'll tell you about that later. But Nana, we'll still be able to see each other. One week, every month."

Nana didn't answer, and her breathing seemed to waver a bit. She sniffled, "...O-okay." She said, "...It's just...oh, Lucas, a week just isn't enough..." She collapsed into Lucas' arms again, as if grieving for a loss. Lucas hugged her back, just as distressed about the negotiation as she was.

Ness watched with a grim expression. While he couldn't push away his inevitable jealousy, he hated to see the couple so upset. He could feel just how much they cared about each other, and seeing Lucas have to be separated from the person he loved just after finding her again was gnawing at him. Ness couldn't deny it any longer. He loved Lucas, and seeing him happy was all he cared about. It had been the promise he'd made to Hinawa, and the promise he'd made to himself. After a few moments of debating, he spoke.

"You know what?" He said, "U-um...what if we gave it a shot?"

"Huh?" Asked Lucas.

"We'll take Nana to Onett with us," Ness suggested, "We'll say...she's a Psychic who lost her powers. That's why she doesn't use PSI, and that's why she doesn't have an aura. There's our story; we found her in the woods, and she's a handicapped Psychic. And if they don't believe us, I'll take her back into the forest, get her on her way to Podunk, and say I finished her off. Plain and simple."

"Could that work?" Lucas' eyes glimmered with hope for just a moment, "Can a Psychic 'lose' their powers?"

"Yeah, if you abuse your powers too  _much,_ but that's more of a stretch. I would say her powers  _faded_ , but she's obviously very young, and that only happens at an old age. But it's worth a shot, yeah?" Ness finished. Lucas and Nana looked at each other, giving each other a 'Why not?' kind of look.

"I suppose! If it means I have a chance to spend my life with  _him._ " Nana said gleefully, nudging Lucas with her shoulder.

"Alright then, let's go for it! We oughta get a move on if we wanna get there by the end of today. Nana, here, walk by me. I'll tell you everything!" Lucas pulled her along, back onto the pathway.

Ness smiled and followed after them. As they began to walk, Lucas looked over his shoulder at Ness and grinned.

' _Thank you, Ness. You made me just about the happiest guy on Earth._ ' He sent. Ness only nodded in reply.

Lucas instantly launched into his tale about the past few days. As he began to ramble, Ness turned back to the previous scene of the battle that had just occurred. His eyes immediately rested on the crumpled body of the fallen opponent. He stopped walking, unable to take his eyes off of it. Never, in his life, had Ness ever killed anyone. He'd put people in hospitals, but his hands were clean. He couldn't believe that Lucas, the shy, reserved, gentle boy he'd come to know, was capable of this. Of course it had been an accident, and a stroke of luck, but now he knew that Lucas was strong enough to kill. The thought sent a chill through him, and took him back to when he'd talked with Claus, and how he was worried about being upstaged by the blond.

' _Who knows how powerful that kid could get?_ ' He wondered, as he began to walk again. Lucas and Nana were yards ahead of him now, and hadn't even noticed he'd stopped. He jogged to catch up, not wanting to draw anymore attention to the corpse, ' _The last thing I want is for him to be desensitized...he's too good for that. Better just to ignore it._ '

Thankfully, Lucas seemed to have forgotten the ordeal, for the moment, either out of shock or excitement of seeing Nana again. Ness prepared himself for the eventual fit of hyperventilating and tears that was bound to come when Lucas realized what he'd committed.

' _Lucas made an enemy of himself today..._ ' Ness thought, ' _I hope those guys don't try anything._ '

With a dreading feeling and anxiety growing, he continued down the path, listening to Lucas' excited voice. And above him, the moon glared back down. Charting it's position, he realized that it was probably midnight at this point. It was their final day.

* * *

"I just can't believe it!" Nana exclaimed, as they three travelers sat down in a circle around the makeshift campfire, "Claus is  _alive!_ "

"Yes! You know that bloodthirsty gang you joined? They're what we call rogues; they're ex members of the village Claus leads now. They're after him, like, all the time." Lucas explained.

"...Oh." Nana went still for a moment, drawing her legs to her chest, "...Peachy."

"Don't beat yourself up, okay? You didn't know you were joining something like that." Lucas assured. He straightened up and crossed his legs, reaching over to place his hand over top of Nana's casually, "Well, there's three of us now! How're we feeling, because I'm feeling fantastic!"

"I second that!" Nana announced.

"I... _third_  that...? I'm, uh...doin' good." Ness replied, notably less enthusiastic than the other two. Lucas' expression faltered just a bit.

"You sure? You've been a little quiet, Ness. I mean, no wonder, I've been going on and on for the past forty minutes." He said.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, fuggetaboutit," Ness dismissed with a wave of his hand. However, he sent a look towards Lucas and followed it with a telepathic message, ' _Do you think she likes me? I don't wanna seem like a negative person or anything_.'

Lucas paused for a moment, and nearly answered, but then he got an idea. He looked to Nana, then to Ness, and smirked. ' _I think that would be a good thing to figure out for yourself._ '

Before Ness could figure out what he was planning, Lucas stood up, pretending to look busy, "Aw, gee whiz, we're running low on fire wood." He said.

"We just set up camp." Said Nana, confused.

"Wwwwwelll, we will eventually be low on firewood, now won't we? You know what, I got this. I'm gonna go make myself useful and get some more wood, while I leave the two of you alone. Together.  _Alone._ " Lucas finished. Ness nearly opened his mouth to stop him, but found himself paralyzed out of sudden fear. Lucas only shrugged at him and headed for a thick patch of trees.

"O-oh! Well, be back soon, and don't go too far!" Nana called after him. Ness fought back the urge to roll his eyes; he could sense Lucas just a few yards away from them, probably nestled in between some trees to keep himself hidden.

' _She's totally oblivious._ ' He thought in amusement, looking at Nana's seemingly content face. A few moments of unbearably awkward silence dragged by. Nana was quick to avert her eyes, and Ness decided to spend his time poking at the fire with a twig nearby. However, at this point, it was Nana's turn to look at him in amusement.

"I'm not oblivious, you know. I know exactly what he's doing." Nana said.

"Wh-?!" Ness sat up at the speed of light, convinced for a short moment that Nana had possibly read his mind. He calmed down, returning his gaze to the fire, "I'm sorry. He thinks I hate you or something."

"You don't exactly _like_  me, either, Ness." Nana said without hesitation, "I kinda figured out what you guys were talking about back there."

"...I see..." Said Ness, "Nana, listen, I  _do_  like you, trust me. It's just..."

"You're just conflicted, I get it." Nana said, "I figured there would be some tension between you and I. I just want to let you know, I don't hate you. I actually think you're rather wonderful."

"...Really?" Ness asked.

"Well, of course. You're the reason Lucas is still alive, aren't you? Not to mention, you're a pleasant person. What's not to like?"

"I'm a  _Psychic._ " Ness said, "Humans  _hate_  Psychics."

"Well,  _I_  don't. I don't anymore, at least," Nana took a moment, "This whole thing with Lucas gave me a bit of perspective. Don't you think it's a little stupid to hate someone for being something they can't control?"

"Huh...when you put it that way, yeah, it is kinda dumb..." Ness murmured, "...I wish I could think about humans the way you do about us."

"Everyone's different, you'll eventually get it. Besides, your hate is a little more justified." Nana said. Ness caught sight of her sincere gaze from across the fire pit. Her eyes reflected the fire's orange glow, as she took a moment to breathe, "Ness, I'm...really sorry about what we did you you. I know that you and I weren't alive to experience it, but...the way we treat you, it really isn't fair. I wish it could be different."

"The day it's  _different_  is a day I'll never see." Ness muttered, "No matter how much the conflict resolves...there's always gonna be some people who still hate us."

"And that's just the reality we have to live with. It's sad." Nana said, "But we have to keep looking forward."

Ness gave a slight nod of his head. Nana was right; all he felt were conflicting emotions. He could feel his own aura spark and spasm about, unsure of how to feel. he had no reason to hate Nana. She was kind and sweet, and was incredibly caring towards Lucas. In the short time he'd known her, she'd been nothing but pleasant. He felt a small pang of guilt prick at him.

"Yeah." He quietly agreed, "Hey, maybe, um...you and me, we could...start over, maybe?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to that." Nana said. She stuck her hand over over the still growing flames, and Ness reached over to shake it. They both smiled, as they drew their hands back.

"I'll try to understand you as much as you've been trying to understand me. I promise." Ness assured.

"I'm happy to hear that," Nana grinned, "Lucas will be, too."

"I hope so." Ness sighed, yawning.

There were a few moments of nothing happening, the only sound being the fire growing stronger. Nana observed Ness' face. He had a small, barely noticeable smile. She sighed a bit, biting her lower lip.

"You really,  _really_  like him, huh?" Nana promptly asked. Ness instantly shot up to look at her like a deer in the headlights. He opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out. Nana snickered, "Calm down, calm down, I figured it out easily."

' _Are you kidding me? First Claus, now her? Am I really that obvious?_ ' Ness thought as he bashfully hugged his knees to his chest and averted his eyes, "H-how did you know?"

"Where do you want me to start? The blush, the obvious sparkle in your eyes, or how your voice raises about nine octaves higher when you talk to him?" Nana shrugged.

' _Wow. She's good._ ' Ness thought bitterly. He sighed, "I'm sorry."

"You can't control your feelings, it's alright." Nana shook her head, "I mean, I  _totally_  get it, if you know what I mean."

Ness laughed, "Heh, yah..." He said, "You're a really lucky girl. I'm glad he has you."

"Aww, gee," Nana replied sheepishly, "You know, I really hope the people in Onett believe our story. I'd like to be a good friend of yours, Ness."

Ness wasn't given time to answer, as the sudden crunching of leaves alerted them. Lucas had returned, grasping three twigs in his hand. He approached the pile of nearby firewood and tossed the thin branches in, before brushing his hands together and sitting down with a huff.

"There, firewood!" He breathed, "Thanks to me, we will not be freezing."

Nana, pretending that nothing had happened, smiled, "Yay! Thank you." She burrowed into his side to share body heat. As she did so, Lucas cast a hopeful glance at Ness.

' _Did you two talk things out?_ ' He asked mentally. Ness nodded, prompting Lucas to smile, ' _Thank you._ '

* * *

With a new sense of relief in the air the next morning, the three managed to settle in easily. All three of them were immensely tired, but with morning already there, they had to get going. What seemed like hours passed by, with nothing but silence, as the sky overhead continued to move past. The sound of birds chirping and wind blowing through the trees filled the air. Lucas couldn't tell how much time had gone by, but his slow heartbeat and the weight of his eyelids told him it had been a good few hours since the group had left the campsite. Although he'd managed to find a (somewhat) comfortable position to lay in, the cold, hard ground hadn't helped anything. He walked with a sharp pain in his back, caused by falling asleep in the fetal position in a desperate attempt to warm himself. The three walked now in tired silence, trudging along the pathway, wishing they were anywhere else but in the middle of the woods. For a long while, everything was peaceful and quiet.

Suddenly, a loud, echoing shriek of some sort ripped through the forest. All three travelers stopped, still as a rock, eyes wide. As the animalistic cry faded out, the forest was devoid of any wildlife ambiance, but the sound of bugs and rodents scurrying soon returned after a few stunned seconds. Lucas, Nana, and Ness all stared into the surrounding forest, each of them holding their breath. After a long while, Ness was the one to break. He scrambled to shrug off his bag, threw it open, and grabbed the leather journal he often wrote in during the journey.

"No, nonono, not now! It doesn't come out of hibernation until the end of spring...!" He muttered in horror as he shakily jotted down something in the book with a sliver of charcoal. Lucas and Nana watched him in unsettled confusion as he went about his business. Ness flipped through the pages into an earlier entry, and scanned it thoroughly, "M-maybe I read it wrong...god dammit, it shouldn't be awake  _now!_ "

"Ness, calm down!" Lucas insisted, rushing over to him, "What is awake?"

"I-I don't know what it's called, none of us do..." Ness stammered, "It's this huge creature, it's like a mix of a dragon, and...a whole bunch of other things that I won't list off. It's like a chimera of ten different predators, and it's  _dangerous._ "

"Oh dear," Nana said, "Should we  _leave?_  Go find shelter, maybe?"

"No, as long as we aren't in its territory, we'll be alright. But soon, we'll be walking right through it... _fuck!"_ Ness spat, "I must've read the charts wrong. In Onett, we keep track of its hibernation, so we know when it's safe to leave without a specific weapon. See, the only thing that can pierce the hide is a fang from it's own species, and I didn't bring one, because it isn't supposed to be awake right now!"

"Dude, you're getting hysteric, get yourself together! What does it look like, so we know what to avoid?" Lucas asked.

"It's  _big_. Really big. You've seen brown bears up close, yeah? This thing is about that size. It's a breed of dragon, so it's scaly. The scales are kind of a pinkish colour, it's wings are a darker shade of purple, if I remember correctly. That's an advantage, because it's easy to see. It also can't see; it's blind." Ness explained.

"Well, that doesn't sound all that bad...?" Nana inquired.

"Wrong. It may not be able to see you, but it can track scents from a mile away. The moment we go past its spray borders, it's probably already tracking us down, so we have to move. Once you get locked into a battle with one, you need to be quick. They're heavy, and really strong.  _Don't_  get caught in it's jaws, those things can kill with a single bite, even if you only get scratched. It's venomous." Ness seemed to be unfocused as he explained every detail he could.

"Well, does it have a weakness at all? The dragons near Tazmily were afraid of fire, if that works." Lucas suggested.

"Noise. Make lots and lots of it. It knows where you are depending on vibrations through the ground, so yell, scream, shout, just confuse it as much as you can." Ness said, still shaking. He sighed, putting his face in his hands, "Jesus...I've never even seen it before, let alone  _battled_  it. Here's hoping we maybe steer clear of it."

"Knowing our luck, we'd better keep a sharp eye out." Lucas muttered, shivering.

"We can take it, yeah? If it's really that big, it must be heavy, meaning it's slow. And with three of us, that just gives us more of an advantage." Nana concluded, "How do we kill it?"

"We can't. Like I said, the only thing that can break the skin is it's own fang. There's no way to kill it; lots of people have tried. But, we can stun it," Ness flipped to another portion of the journal, which depicted a detailed drawing of what Lucas guessed to be the creature he was talking about. He shuddered; it looked terrifying. Ness pointed to the drawing, "It's got a serious weak spot, thank goodness. The back of its neck works as a button of some sort. Hit it hard enough, and it'll go limp just long enough for us to get the hell outta there. But don't try your luck right away, it's harder to get up there than you think. I've heard stories of people who've died just by being hit by its  _wings._ "

"A-ah, well..." Nana swallowed nervously, "Best not to think negatively, yeah? There's three of us, and we're all pretty strong!  _It_  should be afraid of  _us._ "

Ness and Lucas shared a look, endeared by Nana's positive thinking, but also frightened.

"Nana, I don't think you really understand how dangerous this forest can be," Ness said, packing up his journal and setting off on the path again. Nana frowned, jogging to catch up with him.

"Uh, yeah I do, I just traveled through it." She remarked.

"That reminds me, I can't believe I never asked you! How did you make it through this place, on your  _own?_ We barely made it out with the two of us!" Lucas said.

"Well, let me think. See, after you disappeared, I knew Fuel would run off and tell everyone about you and me. So, I knew I had to leave. I ran home, grabbed a few things, got my pole, and took off. I figured, it wouldn't hurt taking a route I know, so I'd go down the pathway near that pond we always played at," Nana explained, "Just after walking for a while, I came up to this really weird part of the forest! Everything was still, and the trees weren't moving."

"The forest frozen in time." Lucas nodded his head, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Yes, that's what the girl said it was." Nana said.

"The girl?"

"Mmhmm." She replied, "She had blue eyes and blond hair, just like you and me." Lucas turned to Ness with a stunned look, then turned back to Nana.

"That was Paula! She's the one who helped us! Remember, I told you about her?"

"Oh, that was her? Huh, small world! Anyways," Nana continued, "She said that she knew her way through the forest, so she agreed to lead me out. Good god, that forest was dreadful, covered in bodies, and guns, and...it was as if a war had gone off in there. Paula told me that normally, it should've been silent in that part of the woods, but apparently, 'two idiots went and broke the spell', she said. Goodness gracious, can you imagine? Being stuck in the middle of..."

She trailed off, noticing that both boys were looking at her, both biting their lips. She stopped walking for a moment and observed them, before raising her eyebrows.

"O-oh.  _You're_  the two idiots." Nana said, putting the pieces together.

"There you go, chief." Ness said, embarrassed.

"Ooookay, well..." Nana said as they began to walk again, "After she led me to the end of...that, I eventually managed to get a good distance going. I walked for a long time, and then, yesterday morning, I came across those guys with the black and white hoods. One of them attacked me, but I must've put up a pretty good fight, because they said that they'd give me a place to stay if I helped them out. So, I went with them. I-I didn't know they were a rogue gang, honest."

"And that leads you to last night." Ness finished.

"Yep, that's it. I guess I was luckier than you guys." Nana said, "It was all worth it, at least. Because if it weren't for this crazy adventure, I wouldn't have met Ness! And, I wouldn't have found  _you._ " She gushed, reaching up to run a hand through Lucas' hair. Lucas' face flushed, and he backed away.

"Nana, not in front of  _Ness_ , don't get gross!" He blurted, covering his face.

"Oh, come  _on_. Sixteen years, and I only just  _now_  get to be all cutesy with you. I think I've waited long enough." Nana said. Lucas responded by promptly picking her up swiftly and carrying her bridal style. Nana let out a squeal and looked down at Lucas with a shocked expression, " _Lucas Flintly Dolray_ , you put me  _down!_ "

"Lucas, are we going to make nice choices, or are we going to make mean choices today?" Ness asked, playing along.

"Oh, come on. I have to practice for when she's wearing a pretty white dress, won't I?" Lucas turned to Nana, who snickered and pushed him away, crossing one leg over the other as he carried her.

"Save the proposal for later." She smirked.

"But ' _later_ ' is just so far awaaay..." Lucas teased, "I can't think of a better place to ask you to marry me than in the middle of a deadly forest."

"After we get to Onett, then you can ask me. Then, I'll say yes, and then, we'll get married." Nana decided. Lucas scoffed and put her down, interlocking their hands.

"And then we can start that perfect life, yeah?" He asked.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Nana grinned and squeezed his hand.

"You know, you're making this whole 'we could get killed by a dragon chimera' thing much easier to take. I'm not as scared now." Lucas murmured.

The two were caught off guard by Ness suddenly stopping, frozen in his tracks. They stopped as well, glancing at him nervously. Ness took in a shaky breath, brushing back his hair. Answering Lucas and Nana's anticipated looks, he raised a trembling hand with a single pointed finger.

"Better start gettin' scared, then." Ness whispered. He was pointing at a large pine tree, which was scored with several deep gashes, easily recognizable as claw marks. The wood was splintered and thrashed violently. Lucas swallowed and took a step back.

"W-wow, it got really mad at that tree, huh...?" He whimpered.

"Those are just it's  _border marks._ " Ness said, voice dark. Lucas only replied with another terrified stare. Ness continued, "That cry from earlier sounded far off, at least a couple miles. We can mask our scent before it catches us, probably. Quick, grab some pine needles, just start rubbing it all over yourselves."

Heeding to his advice, Lucas and Nana quickly rushed to pull pine needles and any other leaves they could find off of the nearby trees, and didn't hesitate to start running the leaves down their faces, arms, and everywhere else. Ness did the same, and as he did so, he picked up a clump of dried grass and released it. The grass flew backwards in the direction they had come from.

"Good, our scents are being blown the opposite way." He confirmed, "Let's hope it can't track us easily."

* * *

After all three had practically dressed themselves in leaves, they finally set off again. Keeping close to each other, they stepped lightly through the forest, each snap of a twig sending shivers down their spines. Step by step, they quickly shuffled through the trees. Below them, the pathway was barely present, being just a vague trail of disturbed dirt. Every once in a while, a squirrel would chirp, sending all three of them jumping into a battle stance. After realizing that nothing was there, they would sheepishly return to normal and continue walking. Every so often, Ness would stop and look around for a moment, before carrying on. As the tension continued to rise,the three managed to keep their cool as they made their way through the forest.

Ness suddenly stopped again, to Lucas' frustration.

"Dude, nothing's here." Lucas whispered.

"We don't know that," Ness hissed back. He was staring intently at the area in front of them. He gestured to the upcoming pathway, "What's that?"

Lucas and Nana both turned in the direction he pointed in. All three of them froze at the sight of a small patch of pinkish-red on the ground a good distance ahead of them. Ness and Lucas looked at each other, both as if asking the other for answers. The object was just far away enough to be unintelligible. After a few exchanging glances shared between all three of them, Ness finally groaned, rolling his eyes.

" _Fine_ , I'll do it." He muttered. Putting on the most confident face he could muster, he slowly inched his way towards the out of place item. As he got closer, he realizes that there were also patches of white. He narrowed his eyes, and observed it even further. Upon leaning over it,he couldn't tell what it was at first. A pile of red stuff, with no noticeable shape. He got to his knees to inspect it more. He picked up a stick nearby and turned it over. The underside of the strange pile was covered in white fuzz. Something that resembled a white stick of some sort stuck out of the fuzz. Ness reached forwards and touched it with his hand. "The hell...?"

Suddenly, realization hit Ness like a tidal wave. It was a bone. He stifled a frightened cry and fell back, before he scrambled to his feet and sprinted back to Lucas and Nana.

"Ness...?! What is it?" Lucas asked, still keeping his voice low.

"G-guys, that's a fucking _rabbit_  back there," Ness urged, "This thing eats rabbits, and it  _never_  strays too far from its prey if it hasn't finished it off yet. We need to hide,  _now!_  Hurry, go!"

Not wasting a single second, all three of them scattered in different directions. Nana threw herself into a cluster of bushes, Ness slid under a large mound of rocks, and Lucas pressed himself up against a tree. As Ness had predicted, there was a distant sound of leaves rustling. Lucas held his breath, his eyes darting nervously around the area. His vision began to blur out of fear, and he found it harder to focus on his surroundings. Meanwhile, Ness realized that nearby, he could see Nana. He waved down her attention, to let her know where he was.

' _Where's Lucas?_ ' Nana mouthed, not wanting to make a single sound. Ness glanced around again, sensing his friend was nearby. He estimated where he was and pointed. Nana only responded with a relieved nod.

A good five minutes went by with nothing happening. Ness nearly instinctively leaped out of his hiding place several times, ready to attack but managed to keep himself under control. Meanwhile, Lucas was beginning to feel dizzy. He wiped the nervous sweat off of his forehead and took several deep breaths. The inside of his stomach felt like he was being stabbed from the inside.

' _I need to eat something..._ ' He realized. Slowly, he slid off his backpack and gently opened it, struggling not to make a sound. Still keeping an eye on everything, he reached inside the bag and felt around for anything edible.

His heart suddenly began to pick up; something didn't feel right. He stared on ahead as his hand aimlessly dug through the bag. Lucas couldn't seem to look away from the spot. Something just looked off about the area in front of him. Eventually realizing that the rations must've been in Ness' bag instead, he turned to a different plan. Reluctantly, he put his hand over his chest.

" _PK Thunder..._ " He murmured as quietly as he could. A painless, but frightening shock ripped down his entire body. His vision cleared from the sudden adrenaline boost as his body spasmed for a few quick moments. He took a moment to catch his breath, shaking from the electricity still running through him, and opened his eyes. Lucas' heart nearly dropped to the floor when he realized what he was looking at.

No more than five yards away, staring right back at him, were two blank, reptilian eyes, which belonged to a ginormous, dark pink creature. It loomed eerily nearby, completely still, but fixated entirely on Lucas. Its dark wings were raised to their full span, which couldn't have been less than 35 feet long. Its yellow eyes, though unseeing and glassy, nearly burned holes through Lucas. It didn't even seem to be breathing with how still it was.

Lucas eyes widened as far as they would go, and he instantly clamped his hand over his mouth and held his nose shut with the other to avoid any type of noise coming from him. Panicked, he instantly reached out to Ness.

" _N-Ness...!_ " He cried, telepathically, his mental voice quivering.

" _Whoa, what? What's wrong?!_ " Ness anxiously replied, getting to his knees. Upon looking around, he saw nothing. Nana noticed his panicked movements and looked at him with a concerned expression. He dismissed her with a way of his hand.

" _I'm looking right at it, and_ it's _looking at_ me." Lucas said, taking in a quick breath, before blocking off his air passage again. Ness forced himself not to gasp, and pressed himself flat against the nearby boulders.

" _D-don't move, don't do anything! I'll be right there! Remember, it can't see you, so just try not to make any noise!_ " Ness insisted. He turned to Nana and motioned for her to stay where she was.

" _You don't have to tell me twice..._ " Lucas muttered, not moving a muscle, and staring the chimera down, not daring to take his eyes off of it. It continued to stay where it was.

Meanwhile, Ness took off his bag and his vest, and tightened the laces on his boots. He motioned to Nana that he was going to go somewhere, and she nervously nodded. Ness wasted no time rubbing some dirt on his hands to create a grip, before fastening his hands on two divots in the rock. With a quiet grunt, he hoisted himself up, digging the tip of his show into the stone. He scaled the boulder's surface easily, before finding an easy position at the top, allowing him a Birdseye view of the forest below him. To his frustration, he could see Lucas, or the chimera. He began to charge up PK Flash, ready to throw it to the first bit of movement he saw.

Lucas continued the routine of pulling his hand away from his mouth for just a moment to take a breath, then covering up again. The creature before him moved just a bit, lifting a front foot up. Lucas' terrified eyes trailed down to the limb, which sported long, sharp claws. He swallowed, continuously repeating to himself that it was all going to be okay.

To his horror, he heard a soft  _thump_  in the grass beside him. He moved his head slightly to see what it was; a biscuit.

' _You've got to be kidding me._ ' He spat on the inside. The chimera's head perked. Lucas backed up farther against the tree until his skin was practically being punctured by the bark, as it took a step. Then another, then another. He saw that it was sniffing at the ground. He prayed to whoever was up above that it couldn't sense that he was there. The chimera made no noise as it approached Lucas, only the crushing of leaves. As graceful as a cat, it got closer. Lucas, who realized that his hands were shaking too hard to keep him from covering his mouth and nose, simply bit his lip and hoped that was enough. A low growl began to emit from the chimera's throat. Lucas felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched it advance on him. Paralyzed in fear, he simply squeezed his eyes shut, as more tears spilled out and trailed down his face. When he felt air being blown against him, he knew that he was face to face with it. He let out a small, muffled whimper.

Taking a last resort, Lucas threw his foot to the side. In an event of only luck, he made direct contact with the dropped biscuit, sending it flying a good distance away from him, and landing with another thump. Completely different to the last time, the chimera let out a chilling, threatening growl and instantly pounced for the object, sending a flock of birds nearby flying.

Ness, spotting the creature in his vision, reacted instantly. He got to his feet, and with the loudest cry of dominance he could muster, he leapt off of the boulder, throwing his hands forward and sending a massive shock wave of electricity and energy flying at the chimera. He made a direct hit, sending it scrambling back a few feet with a hiss. The chimera, once pinpointing where Ness was by sensing the vibrations in the ground, charged.

" _Ness!_ " Both Lucas and Nana cried, as they burst from their hiding places. Ness jumped out of the way of the advancing chimera, and looked at his friends.

"Go for the back of the neck, remember! Stay clear of the tail and the wings!" He reminded. Just as he said this, this chimera whipped around to face him, and caught the back of his legs with it's thin tail. Ness grit his teeth and stumbled to the ground from the sudden impact, but was quick to stagger back up.

Lucas and Nana looked at each other, nodded, and headed for separate sides. Ness, still shaky from the slight sting in his legs, grabbed two rocks from the ground and began to clash them together repeatedly. Nana caught on to what he was doing, and motioned for Lucas to do the same as she bent down to pick up a few stones herself. As all three circled the chimera, shouting and making as much noise as they could, it pawed at its head and raised its hackles, snarling in frustration.

"Alright, here's what we'll do!" Ness shouted, keeping up the volume, "Nana, since you don't have PSI, stick to the front! Strike the face, and keep it from biting anyone! Lucas and I will attack from the blind spots!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Nana replied, throwing her rocks to the side and drawing out her pole from her back holster.

She skidded to the front of chimera's face, delivering a sharp whack to the skull. Ness nearly froze in amazement at her strength, as the attack had sent a cracking sound that echoed through the air. The chimera let out a shriek, and swiped at her, which she easily dodged. Ness smiled in satisfaction, before giving Lucas a nod. The two boys let go of the stones and instantly began circling the creature, looking for an angle to attack at. Ness had never seen it in real life, but had heard stories on how to defeat it. He ducked to avoid it's thrashing tail once again, running right up to it's side, jamming his elbow into its scaly hide, sending a blast of lightning through its body. It reacted by jumping to the side, nearly hitting Lucas, who just barely avoided the collision.

"Ow, god dammit!" Ness spat, clutching his elbow, "Who knew that 'hard as a rock' wasn't just an exaggerated innuendo?" He muttered, shaking off the pain and advancing on the chimera again.

As the others continued to jab hit after hit of Psionics, Nana continued to do as much damage to the face as possible. She found this chimera harder to hit than she thought. Despite it's enormous size, it was quick. Its constant thrashing didn't seem to have a technique. It was obviously taking advantage of it's height advantage. Nana jabbed it with the end of the pole, right between the eyes, which seemed to daze it for a moment, however, she didn't have time to react as a large, clawed foot came barreling towards her, knocking her to the ground and sending her skidding a few feet. Nana cried out in pain, spitting out the dirt in her mouth and clumsily getting back to her feet. She had lost track of where her pole was, and saw that the chimera had grabbed it with its mouth. She wiped the dust off of her face, reared back, and lunged at it, grabbing the end of the pole sticking out of its jaws and stomping her foot on its muzzle to try and get it loose. All the while, it continued to swipe at her with its claws.

Lucas wasn't so lucky in the dodging. He was struck multiple times in the face and torso by the chimeras strong hind legs and spiked tail, which seemed to have a mind of its own. He hadn't expected a large, blind dragon would be so difficult to fight, but then again, he'd grown up learning to fight other humans. He wiped a bit of blood off of a scratch on his face, and sent a telepathic message to Ness.

' _I'm goin' for it!_ ' He announced. He was at the rear, so if he could just climb up...

' _Be careful!_ ' Ness gave him the go-ahead.

Lucas pulled back his sleeves and took a few steps back, waiting for a good moment to lunge. Once he noticed an empty spot where its wings were out of the way, he ran forwards and jumped, grabbing hold of its scales and pulling himself up onto its back. Managing to hold on to the animal, he made his was closer towards the nape, ready to strike it with a single blow. To his relief, he successfully made it. While grabbing hold of one of its horns for balance, he raised a fist.

However, just as Ness had warned earlier, one of the chimera's wings thrashed at him. The hooked claw on it's wing sliced into his shoulder, and the force in total knocked him back to the forest floor.

"Lucas?" Ness fretted, not taking his eyes off of the chimera.

"I'm fine, I'm fine...!" Lucas assured, getting to his feet and shaking his head to clear the dizziness.

"It won't let you get to it's weak spot that easily! Try and find another way!" Ness said, "You're physically stronger than me, so you should probably be the one to do it!"

"Gotcha, I'm on it!" Lucas replied. He dodged another attack from the chimera's tail and continued to try and find a way to get up there without being thrown off.

Nana, in the meantime, was still struggling to get her pole back. She kicked and pushed with all her might, but the chimera was simply not giving up. However, in the corner of her vision, she saw Ness having a bit of a struggle. He seemed to be trying to get to the wings, as if to injure them enough to leave them useless. However, he was struck by one of the creature's legs, and to her horror, he was pinned down against the dirt. Ness struggled to get free, but found his attempts useless, and the draining of colour in his face told Nana that he was having trouble breathing. Feeling a new surge of energy rush through her, she finally made the decision to sharply deliver a kick to the chimera's eye, causing it to let out a high pitched growl of pain. Nana's weapon dropped into the grass, and she quickly picked it up. Rushing to Ness side, she swung her pole directly into the ankle of the foot holding him down. The moment it jerked upwards out of reflex, Nana grabbed Ness' hand and dragged him to safety. Ness quickly sat up, clutching his chest and coughing. He turned to Nana with a shocked expression.

"You saved me...!" He breathed, "Th-thanks."

"Don't mention it!" Nana stood up and held out her hand, helping him regain his balance.

The two hastily went back into their battle, Nana continuing to strike again and again, and Ness continuing to try and cause damage to its wings. Lucas, on the other hand, had a different plan. He quickly hatched a plan that he hoped would work. Taking advantage of the chimera being distracted by the others, he wasted no time finding a nearby tree and rapidly climbing it's trunk. He watched the scene below him intently, searching for the right moment to jump, and hopefully strike his target. He winced as he saw Ness get hit by another wing. Nana seemed to also be having trouble, constantly having to dodge blows from it's claws and teeth. Desperate to get it over with, Lucas simply continued to watch, and held his breath, waiting for the perfect moment. His wounds her starting to take a physical toll on him, and he wasn't sure how hurt he'd get if he hit the ground instead of the chimera. Keeping his eyes focused, he focused on the pattern below him.

Nana suddenly let out a cry, catching Lucas' attention. She managed to get her pole caught in the chimera's jaws again, but this time, it was vertically forcing them open. Nana held onto her weapon for dear life, being faced with a mouthful of sharp, venomous teeth. In an attempt to get it back, she placed her foot on its bottom jaw and pushed, trying to force it open wider, and loosen the pole. Ness noticed her, but was too busy focused on trying to subdue its wings, which were now writhing about even more violently, now that the creature was panicking. Ness had managed to grab on to the arm muscle of the wing, and was using PK Freeze again and again, trying to force them to stop moving.

"Lucas! Where are you?!" Ness cried.

"I'm up here, I'm trying to jump on it and knock it out in one go!" Lucas explained.

"Do it now, then! Don't even hesitate, just go!" Ness exclaimed.

"O-okay...!" Lucas replied, leaning slightly out of the tree. The chimera was still moving around a bit, but with it's jaws forced wide open and Ness coating its wings in ice, it seemed to calm down its movements for a moment. Ignoring the nervousness, Lucas swung back and forwards a few times, gaining momentum. "Alright! One...two... _o-one, two..._ "

"Lucas, my pole is gonna break! I can't hold it much longer, go!" Nana cried. She was right, her pole was slowly beginning to splinter in the middle. Lucas gasped, realizing the danger she was in.

"Ah! Oh no, oh no...I'm coming! Okay...one, two..." He began again, "...Oh, for Christ's sake, Lucas, just  _go for it! Three!_ " He told himself. With that, he swung back again, and pushed himself out of the tree. He shut his eyes, waiting for an impact with the ground, but instead found himself hitting the back of the chimera once more. Not wasting a single second of his precious time, Lucas once again jumped to his feet. Taking in a deep breath, he clenched his hand into a fist, raised it high in the air, and with as much strength as he could muster, Lucas flung his fist down and collided his hand with the surprisingly softer skin of the chimera's nape.

The chimera went quiet. It wobbled for a moment, before its eyes clouded over and it clumsily collapsed onto the ground. Lucas had no time to feel relieved, before a sickening crack filled the air, followed by an agonized scream. Lucas gasped and slid off of the unconscious chimera. Ness also got to his feet, and the two boys quickly rushed to the chimera's front side. Lucas felt a jolt of shock and despair run through his chest.

Nana's weapon lay just a few feet from her, snapped in two, while Nana lay just in front of the chimera, her bare leg caught in between its jaws. She took deep, painful breaths in through her teeth as she processed what was before her. The chimera's teeth had sunk deep into her sink, and thick trails of blood were seeping from the wounds. Almost in a shock fueled trance, she leaned forwards and pushed up against the top jaw, letting out another shriek of pain as she forcefully pulled its teeth from her leg, making a sickening gurgling sound from the wounds. As soon as her leg was free, she moved it out of the way, and let the creature's jaw fall back into place.

"Nana!" Lucas cried, rushing to her side, "Nana, hey, it'll be alright, okay? Listen, we gotta get out of here before it wakes up again. Hang on, I'll carry you!"

"Lucas, wait, remember what I said about-" Ness was interrupted by Lucas, who shook his head and bent down to pick up Nana anyways.

"Not  _now,_  Ness, we have to get her out of here!" Lucas insisted. Ness could see that he was desperate, and with a reluctant expression, he simply nodded and followed Lucas as they quickly ran from the scene, making sure to grab his discarded belongings from before. Looking to his side, Ness noticed Lucas' eyes starting to water. He drew in his lower lip, knowing that Lucas was obviously trying to deny the inevitable. Sprinting away from the defeated animal as quickly as they cool, Lucas continued to murmur encouraging words to Nana, whose eyelids were beginning to droop. Even after they crossed the end of the chimera's border, as marked by the mutilated trees, they continued to run. At long last, Ness' lungs began to burn, and he put a hand on Lucas' shoulder.

"L-Lucas..." He panted, slowing down, "We're out of its territory...w-we need to stop." He insisted.

"Okay, okay..." Lucas anxiously whispered, as if not even affected by the prolonged running. He quickly sat down, holding Nana's crumpled form in his arms. Her eyes were half closed now, and her leg was nearly slathered top to bottom in blood. Lucas' eyes widened, as he began to breath deeply, "Oh no...oh no, no, no, this can't be happening...Nana, listen to me, you're gonna be just fine, okay? You're gonna be alright!" He rambled, almost in a hysterical state.

"Lucas..." Nana slurred, her voice nearly at a whisper, "I can't feel my legs...m-my whole body hurts..."

"I know, I know it hurts, but you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine...! Nana, come on, stay with me!  _Ness!_ " Lucas shrieked, turning back to Ness, who stood nearby, "Ness, you know healing spells, don't you?!  _Please,_  you need to help her! Use what you used on me!"

"Lucas, its  _venom_ , there's nothing I can-!" Ness was cut off again.

" _Do you want her to die?!_  Is that what you want? Seems like that's not too out of character for you, now  _is it?!"_ Lucas shouted, not bothering to hide the seemingly endless amounts of tears welling up in his eyes and flowing down his face, "Nana, give me just a moment, and I'll fix you, alright? God dammit, you're  _not_  going to die, I promise! P-please..."

"I can't s-see..." Nana murmured, her eyes glassed over. Her breathing had become quick and forced.

"Ssssh, it's okay..." Lucas brushed her hair out of her face. Nana looked back up at him with cloudy, but still terrified eyes. She began to shiver.

"...Did I do good?" She asked, her words choppy and broken.

"Better than anything I've seen you do. We couldn't have done it without you, you know." Lucas murmured softly, his voice quivering. The corners of Nana's mouth just barely lifted into a weak smile. She drew in another shaky breath.

"I'm so glad..." She rasped, each word sounding like it was physically painful to say, "The three of us...we make a good team, yeah?"

"The best kind there is." Lucas nodded, taking her hand.

"Us against the world..." Nana whispered, "Like you and me, Lucas. When we're married. A-and we'll live in our own house...and start our own family..."

Lucas didn't answer. He only bit his lip and turned away, so that Nana couldn't see his face. She smiled again and raised her trembling hand to his cheek, weakly wiping away the tears that still remained there. He found the courage to look back at her.

"It'll be perfect." He assured.

"A-and Ness will be there...you know, with the three of us together, there's nothing we can't take on..." Nana said. She suddenly convulsed, a slight choking sound escaping her throat. She flinched, squeezing Lucas' hand, "L-Lucas..."

"Ssssssh. I know it hurts." Lucas breathed, "Rest."

"I-I should..." Nana said, "...C-can you do something for me, first?"

"Anything, of course."

Nana raised a pointed finger up, and pointed at Ness, "Ness...c-come over here, please? Sit over here, so I can see you..."

Ness perked up, shocked, but solemnly nodded and approached them, settling himself beside Lucas. The two boys waited for Nana to finish. She suddenly burst into a coughing fit, sending several spatters of blood flying. She took a few moments to catch her breath.

"Boys..." She murmured, putting on hand on Lucas' arm, and the other on Ness' leg, "...Can you...?" She trailed off.

"Yeah?" Ness whispered.

"Can you..." Nana paused, "...Smile, please?"

The two boys stared at her, shocked for a while, before looking at each other. Ness gave a slight, barely noticeable nod. Lucas bit his lip and turned back to Nana. As best as they could, both boys managed to force a weak, but visible smile onto their faces. Nana looked up at them through eyelids that looked nearly closed. Her face was now nearly paper white, and her lips were turning a slight shade of blue. She took in another shallow breath, this time, a slight rattle emitting from the back of her throat. She returned with a smile that reflected every part of her personality that Lucas had come to love. Now too weak to say anything else, Nana whispered one thing.

" _...Perfect._ " She sighed. Oddly, Lucas found himself unable to stop smiling. He brushed a hand through her hair, and looked at her with gentle eyes.

"I'm glad." He murmured.

" _I'll see you in the morning..._ " Nana breathed, her eyes looking back up into space.

And just like that, Lucas felt a sudden weight fall into his arms. Nana's eyes clouded over, and stared blankly at nothing. There was a long period of no sound. Lucas did nothing. In fact, he couldn't do anything. He stared down at Nana's limp form, not even putting any effort into holding her anymore. She simply laid there in his arms, draped over him as if she were sleeping. Ness slowly turned to his friend, and saw that Lucas had stopped crying. He now simply stared back down at Nana, his smile still remaining on his face. It seemed like the blond was in a whole other world, all by himself. Ness hesitatingly brought his hand up to his shoulder, patting it slightly.

"...Lucas..." He uttered, unsure of what to say afterwards. Lucas' shoulder tensed underneath his hand, as if Ness had jolted him out of his thoughts. Lucas slowly lifted his head, his face turned away from Ness, who had backed up a bit to give him space. Ness drew his hand away, slightly on edge, "...Luc...?"

" _...This is your fault._ " Lucas muttered, gently setting Nana on the ground.

"What?" Ness breathed, standing up.

"You heard me." Lucas whispered, before getting to his feet and advancing on Ness, " _You fucking heard me, Ness!_ " He shrieked, shoving Ness back by the shoulders. Ness stumbled, but didn't fall. He glanced back at Lucas with wide, confused eyes.

"Luc, snap out of i-" Ness had to dodge quickly, as Lucas threw a forceful punch, his fist surrounded by flames. He blocked the next one, coming from the other side. " _Lucas!_ "

"You could've  _helped her_ , and you just  _let her die!_ " Lucas accused. Ness continued to fight him off, finding it more and more difficult to keep up with Lucas' rage fueled attacks. The two boys continued to go back and forth, Lucas being the one to attack, and Ness being the one to divert each one. Lucas got more and more violent as the fistfight went on. Ness was too focused on blocking to try and reason with Lucas, who was putting everything he had into trying to take him down. Eventually, Lucas threw a roundhouse kick that just barely hit Ness' jaw, sending him to the ground with a spurt of blood splattering against the leaves. Ness hit the forest floor with a pained groan, clutching the side of his face that had been hit. He was suddenly pinned down by Lucas, who fastened his hands around his neck, and pressed his thumbs into the center of his throat. Ness hysterically began to thrash, and tried to pry his friend's hands off before he started squeezing.

"Lucas, remember who I am! Look at me!" Ness pleaded, convinced that he was going to die soon. He went for a last resort. " _What would Nana say?!_ "

The pressure on his neck softened, to his relief. Ness nervously opened his eyes and stared up at Lucas, who stared back down at him. His face didn't look like one of anger. Lucas looked terrified. He glared back at Ness with vulnerable, frightened eyes. They shared eye contact for a few seconds, before Lucas' gaze drifted to his hands. Realizing what he was doing, he drew them back. Heart pounding, he reached over and touched Ness' jaw, which was still bleeding. He let out a small gasp of sadness and regret. Tears once again welled up in his eyes as he collapsed into Ness' chest, gripping onto his shirt. Ness let out a sigh of relief, before putting his hand on the back of Lucas' neck for comfort.

" _I didn't mean to do that..._ " Lucas choked, continuing to quietly sob, "Y-you're my best friend, I didn't mean to..."

"Calm down, just breathe." Ness murmured, the shock of what had just happened beginning to wear off.

"What am I gonna do without her, Ness? I was so close, I was  _this fucking close,_  and then..." Lucas trailed off, his breath hitching, "God dammit, what am I  _doing...?_ " He scolded himself on the inside. Ness wasn't entirely sure what to do, laying there with Lucas, in tears, collapsed on top of him. He looked up, realizing that Lucas had gotten off of him, and had sat back on the ground, putting his face in his hands. Ness wasted no time getting to his knees and crawling over to him, putting a hand on his arm.

"Hey." Ness murmured, "C'mon, Lucas, you know Nana better than anyone else. Would she have wanted you to cry over her?"

Lucas took a few moments, before taking his hands away from his face, still looking at the ground, "...No."

"And what would she have wanted you to do?"

"...To not let it put me down, and keep going."

"And why?"

Lucas bit his lip, "...Because I'm..." He didn't finish.

"Because you're  _what?_ " Ness prompted.

"Because I'm strong." Lucas said.

"I'd say that I agree with her," Said Ness, scooting closer to him and putting his hands on either side of his face, "Lucas, I know how much you loved her. I could feel it just by being around you two. But you cannot let this put you down. You have to get back up again."

"So I can't be sad about it?" Lucas asked.

"Of course you can be sad about it, you can be sad about it for as long as you want! Chances are, you'll be sad about it until you die. And that's okay, being sad is okay. But what you can't do is let this stop you from moving forwards, okay? Lucas, you've gone through more than any guy your age should, and you still kept going! That's...amazing." Ness insisted, looking his friend in the eye, "I think  _you're_  amazing."

Lucas only looked back at Ness with a stunned expression. For a moment, he felt a flutter in his chest, but he ignored it.

"...Yeah?" He asked.

" _Yes._  And so did  _she._ " Ness gestured back to the motionless body behind them. Lucas looked at her, and slowly approached her. Nana still stared up at the sky with blank eyes. Lucas tentatively reached over and closed them with two, gentle fingers. She now just looked as if she were simply resting. A perfect example of something so horrible being so beautiful. Lucas thought about Ness' words, and realized the truth in them. He sighed, and tucked his hands underneath Nana's body, before standing up on unsteady legs, holding her close. He glanced back at Ness, his eyes regaining their past determination.

"She doesn't deserve to sleep here." Lucas murmured, "Let me do this for her, then we can go."

* * *

Burying Nana didn't take long. Lucas had quickly been able to find her favorite tree, a willow, with soft enough dirt to easily dig away. He laid her there with her arms neatly placed at her sides. Following the Tazmily tradition, he collected native rosemary and lavender from the forest around them and put them amoung her resting place, before finding the courage to fill the hole back up. Ness had offered to help, but Lucas insisted to do it on his own. Lucas used a branch as a marker, placing it at the very end of the grave, as well as a few violets and mountainbell flowers. Lucas spent a few minutes, bent down in child's pose, whispering unintelligibly under his breath. Ness guessed that due to his position and rapid fire delivery, he was giving a prayer of some sort. Lucas whispered a word that Ness recognized;  _Dākudoragon._ He still had much to learn about Tazmily, he realized.

Lucas finally allowed him to take part in his vigil. He pulled out the incense that Claus had given them, and lit one. The scent of Frankincense calmed Ness, as the two sat side by side in complete silence. Lucas was sitting with his eyes closed and his hands on his thighs, so Ness figured it'd be a good idea to simply do the same. Ten minutes passed before Lucas spoke again.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, "I won't do stuff like this in Onett, I promise."

"No, no, you don't need to change for us. You know, I'm sure you could even teach us some stuff, huh?" Ness suggested, struggling to lift his spirits in any way possible.

"...Would people be interested?"

"Most likely, yeah."

"Then...perhaps." Lucas sighed. He looked at the makeshift grave again, before standing up and walking to the stick. He bent down and pulled something from his pocket; Nana's hair tie. He tied the ribbon around the branch quickly, before walking back over and grabbing his things. He looked at Ness with a broken, but adamant expression, "I'm ready, now. Let's go."

"A-alright, let's go." Ness agreed, nodding. The two turned to find their way back to the trail, but only made it a few feet before Ness spoke again, "Are you sure you don't want to keep the ribbon?" He asked.

Lucas paused for a few moments, opening his mouth, but not answering. After a while, he turned back around and sprinted back to the branch, pulling off the ribbon and putting it back in his pocket. He ran back to Ness' side, and to Ness' surprise, he had a smile on his face.

"You're smiling." Ness pointed out, "It looks real."

"It is, I think." Lucas said, "She deserves to be remembered in smiles. After all, that was her specialty, wasn't it? Making people happy."

"Of course, you're right." Ness agreed, smiling as well, "...Off we go?"

"Off we go." Lucas nodded.

And so, as the sun drew across the sky, off they went, leaving behind a patch of freshly dug dirt, that almost seemed to be watching them go.

* * *

For the first time in a while, there was no conversation between the two friends. Whether it was out of respect for the fallen, or out of awkwardness of not knowing what to say, not a single word was exchanged as they made their way down the dirt path. Every so often, Lucas would look behind them with a furrowed brow, but Ness chalked it up to simply hearing or seeing things. After all, the blond had gone through enough in a handful of days. As they walked, the sky above turned from baby blue to a darker pinkish orange. Ness was slightly nervous, hoping that they'd make it in time, as Onett's portal closed that night at midnight. However, he chose not to let it bother him, and just focused on moving.

"Ness?" Lucas suddenly asked, making Ness jump.

"H-huh?" Ness replied, trying to mask the fact that he'd been startled.

"I know you said you don't know much about love, but...can I ask you a question about it?" Lucas' hands were nervously held at his centre. Ness' pulse picked up just a bit, but he managed to keep his composure.

"Sure, yeah, duh. What do you need?" He asked.

"Say I were to go to Onett, and...I fell for someone." Lucas mentioned.

"...Oh?"

"Just hypothetically! But what if I did? Like I met a nice girl, or a nice boy, or, whatever..." Lucas paused, "...Would it be weird? I mean...I was in love with Nana for like, ten years. But now...well, now she's gone. But...is it  _wrong_  for me to like someone else? To move on?"

"No!" Ness blurted, "A-ah, um...I mean...sorry, that was loud. What I mean is...I wouldn't think so. Just...wherever your heart takes you, just follow it. As long as you're happy. That's what matters."

"Hm. That does make sense." Lucas said. He looked at his friend, and winced upon seeing the small, but noticeable scratch on his jawline. He held his arm with one hand, shamefully avoiding eye contact, "Listen, Ness, I'm sorry again for what happened back there, I-I really didn't know what was going on."

"Lucas, you've apologized six times now. It's really okay." Ness replied.

"But it's not, though!" Lucas said, "You've done so much for me, and that's how I give back. Everyone in Onett's just gonna  _love_  me, aren't they?" He muttered.

"Don't say that, they're gonna be thrilled! When I told them that I was setting off to find Hinawa's boy, there was nothing but excitement." Ness insisted.

"I-I see...here's hoping I'm anything like her," Lucas nervously laughed, "...I'm nervous. Y'know, new town, new people...I don't even know how I'll  _introduce_  myself."

"Better start practicing, then." Ness said. He stopped walking, prompting Lucas to stop as well.

"Why's that?" Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow. Ness smirked. He raised a hand and put it to Lucas' cheek, guiding him to turn his head to the direction they were going.

"Because we're here."

Lucas staggered on his feet, heart pounding in his chest. He stared ahead, wide eyed, and looked back to Ness, who nodded. Swallowing anxiously, he faced the approaching forest, and saw that the trees did seem to part a bit. Grabbing the fabric of his jacket sleeves, he slowly began to make his way forward. Ness excitedly followed along. As they continued forwards, the forest began to thin out, exposing more and more flat field. Lucas squinted against the sudden wide, open space, his entire body being covered in sunlight. For the first time in days, he wasn't trapped in a prison of trees. Upon passing the last of the trees, he saw that ahead of him was not a field, rather, it was a cliff. Just before the cliff's drop, two trees stood across from each other, gently blowing in the wind. Lucas stared at the scene before him. The cliff led straight down to what he could only assume to be either a river or sharp rocks, but it was what lay beyond it that left him speechless. Past the cliff was a extravagant display of mountains, some leading up to the clouds above. Lucas suddenly felt small, standing on what felt like the edge of the world. As the warm breeze blew against his skin, he closed his eyes and relaxed his body, letting himself laugh for a moment. He wasn't sure if it was out of relief or out of pure amazement, but it felt good to laugh, finally.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ness asked, walking up beside him.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen..." Lucas whispered, "Look! Look, you can even see other parts of the Nowhere Islands, floating over there! There's another village on that one! Look at those houses, they're like great big rectangles!"

"That's Podunk." Ness said. Lucas' smile wavered for only a moment.

"...The place where Nana was going to go." He murmured, "If only she could be here to see this..."

Both boys were silent for a few moments. Lucas continued to gaze out at the scenery with a bittersweet smile. However, something finally snapped him out of his amazed trance. He turned to Ness with lowered eyebrows.

"...Where's Onett?" He asked, "Do we have to climb  _down_ , or...?"

"Like I said, Onett is hidden. Camouflaged. It's right..." Ness leaned over so that his face was right next to Lucas'. He drew a pointed finger across the scene before them, before landing smack dab in the middle of the area, "...There."

"I see nothing. How do I know this wasn't some planned operation for you to get me to jump off a cliff willingly?" Lucas teased. Ness playfully nudged him back.

"Nonsense. Wait your turn." He smirked. The two snickered together, before Ness continued, "Right between those two trees before the cliff drops, that's the entrance. Completely human and animal proof. Onett sits on it's own island, which is why it's suspended in the air. Handy, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Lucas halfheartedly agreed, not entirely paying attention. He gazed at the two trees. All of a sudden, in one big crashing realization, he stumbled back, putting a hand to his head, "I-I made it!"

"Huh?" Ness asked.

"I did it! We did it! We  _won!_  I survived, I'm gonna live!  _Take that!_ " Lucas exclaimed at nothing, grabbing Ness' hands and enthusiastically dragging him back near the woods, running in a few circles. Once he slowed down, he bent over a little bit to catch his breath.

"That's right, just like I promised!" Ness said, "Now, really quick, can you feel everyone's magic?"

Lucas narrowed his eyes and focused on the invisible town that apparently lay before him. Shortly after, his mind began to slowly pick up on auras. In a matter of a few seconds, he'd detected an entire population's worth of them. The feeling was stronger than it was in Unknown. He doubled over a bit, growing dizzy, but was helped up by Ness.

"Yes..." He said, "I can feel them!" Lucas wandered a bit back into the trees, marveling at his discovery, "I feel like I know everyone already! Oh, this is wonderful, it's-!"

Lucas' sudden pause concerned Ness, who walked over to him, still facing the forest.

"What is it, you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay, but..." Lucas murmured, staring intently into the trees, "...Can't you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Ness asked, deciding to also stare out into the trees.

"There's one that doesn't feel right, like when I sensed Nana in that group of rogues. Ness, are you sure there aren't any humans in Onett? Because I think I can feel one nearby." Lucas explained. Ness focused on the air around him as well, and lightly gasped when he realized what Lucas was talking about.

"Huh..." He said, feeling the out of place person's presence, "...I've ever felt that around here before. Traveler, maybe? Lucas, I'm sorry, I know you want to go as soon as possible, but just in case someone tries to stick their nose where it doesn't belong...? Ness trailed off.

"Yeah, we've got time." Lucas muttered. He suddenly felt like he was going to vomit. He clutched Ness' shoulder for balance and shivered slightly, eyes widening, "Ness...Ness, this person...I know them."

"What?" Ness asked. He heard the sound of leaves crunching behind him, but payed no attentions to it.

"This lack of an aura...I feel like I know who it...i-it..." Lucas's voice dropped before he could finish.

Before Ness could answer, another sound made both of them freeze solid in place. Behind them, near the entrance of Onett, they heard footsteps. Lucas' heart nearly stop beating, and he suddenly had forgotten how to breath in air. He stared in horror at the forest in front of them, too terrified to glance back around at who was behind them. Ness didn't turn either, feeling just as intimidated by Lucas' reaction alone. The world around Lucas grew dark and fuzzy, as he struggled to comprehend what was going he heard the sound of a knife holster clicking open, a shiver ran down his arms. He'd guessed correctly.

"Well, I'll be." Rasped a deep, threatening voice from behind them, "I don't know how, but you  _fuckin_ ' did it. You didn't die."

Lucas' hands gripped into fists. Gritting his teeth with a mix of fear and anger, he slowly, step by step, began to make his way around to face who stood between him and his chance at freedom. Once their eyes made contact, there was no mistake.

"I had hoped I'd never have to see you again." Lucas grimaced, " _...Lighter._ "

Lighter cast him a teasing sneer.

"Heh, well, looks like both of us faced disappointment these last few days, h'aint we?" He replied. Lucas narrowed his eyes, which flashed with hostility.

"How did you even  _find_  me, Lighter?" Lucas asked.

"That was easy. After Fuel told me where you had run off to, I set off myself, armed only with this," Lighter gestured to his jagged blade. Lucas shivered. It was the same dagger used to nearly kill him a few days ago. Lighter's eyes darkened, as he shifted into a position ready for movement, "I figured, I'd set out and finish the deed I'd begun. And dear lord, it was a journey just about as eventful as yours probly' was. But you know what? I won't bore you with the details. I just want to finish this."

Lighter spoke his last sentences aggressively through his teeth, as he gripped the blade's handle and gave no hesitation to advance on Lucas. Lucas stepped back, prepared for a fight, but was cut off when Ness positioned himself in front of Lucas.

"I'd like to see you try and get past me. You wanna get to him? Kill me  _first._ " Ness snarled, balling his hands into fists and igniting both hands in Psionic flames.

"Ness...!" Lucas urged, his voice just above a whisper. Ness only gave him an assuring smile back.

"Oh, that's right, you found another one!" Lighter pointed out, "Two Psychics in front of me, a disgusting sight. You really think you can fight me off, kid? A little twig like you?"

" _Call me 'twig' one more time._ " Ness threatened.

"Ness, stop it! If we fight him off, we do it together!" Lucas insisted, grabbing his arm. The flames surrounding Ness' hands doused.

"Lucas, I'm not breaking my promise! I'm not letting you get hurt again!" Ness protested, "Please, don't you trust me?"

The two held eye contact for only a few seconds longer. Lucas bit his lip, and backed away a few steps, "...Okay."

Ness only nodded in thanks. He slid off his bag, and tightened his shoulder guards. He turned around, facing Lighter, who waited patiently. Lighter smirked and tipped his head to the side.

"Look at you." He murmured, "Let me guess, you're willing to sacrifice everything just to let him live? A total martyr, aren't we?"

"Stop talking so we can  _get this over with._ " Ness reared back into a fighting stance, bringing up his hands for defense. He extended his index and middle finger on each hand, preparing to use whatever move he needed. As the two began to circle each other, daring one another to attack first, Ness grinned, "Ever fought a Psychic before?"

"Can't say that I have, this is a new experience for me." Lighter replied in a mocking friendly tone.

"Oh, so you haven't seen stuff like  _this!_ " Ness pivoted to his left and thrust his hand towards the sky, before swinging it back towards Lighter. A blast of lightning and energy exploded from where he stood. Lighter, who hadn't expected the attack, tried to dodge. However, the range of the blast was too large, and he was struck by one of the electric barbs. With a cry, he fell to his knees, breathing deeply. The shoulder of his flannel shirt was black and torn. He glared up at Ness with a mixture of shock and anger. Ness smirked, "Pity, pity. What a shame."

"I'll show you a shame,  _'Kick!_ "

As if a switch had been turned on, Ness instantly went into full on battle mode. As Lighter ran towards him, knife drawn, Ness dropped into a somersault, escaping his advance. When he got to his feet behind Lighter, who spun around to face him, they instantly clashed into a period of hand-to-hand. Lighter had the advantage of being taller and stronger, but Ness was easily faster. He blocked a jab and went for the legs with his foot, but Lighter sidestepped and grabbed Ness' wrist, twisting it backwards. Ness grit his teeth and struggled to get his wrist free, meanwhile, he charged up PK Fire.

"Don't  _fucking_  use that word, or I'll show you what I've  _really_  got!" Ness exclaimed, grabbing hold of the hand that held his wrist, and giving a surge of heat. Lighter breathed in sharply from the burn and drew his hand back, giving Ness time to bring his knee up and make contact with Lighter's forearm. The collision sent a loud crack splitting through the air as the bone was dislocated. Lighter winced, but didn't make a sound. With the strength he could muster with both hands, he grabbed Ness by the shoulders and forced him to the ground.

Heat and frustration burned under Ness' skin as he desperately tried to struggle out from underneath the stronger man. Lighter raised the dagger and attempted to slash several times at Ness' face and neck, each of which Ness just barely managed to dodge, except for one that caught his cheek. Ness clamped his hand over the wound, that trailed from his temple to his jaw. He performed PK Fire with his other hand and tried to attack again, but Lighter had planned ahead, and slammed his foot down on Ness' wrist, holding the other one down. Beginning to panic and unable to aim his attacks, Ness began to struggle as violently as he could. Lucas, meanwhile, began to become overwhelmed with alarm, instinct rushing in. He felt as if he were about to step in at any moment.

" _Ness...!_ " He cried, preparing to jump in and help.

"No, Lucas,  _stay where you are!_ " Ness protested in a broken voice.

He focused on trying to position his fingers they way he had to in order to use PSI, but Lighter had already figured out how that worked, and had made sure to keep that from happening. Lighter took the knife and pressed it against Ness' left palm, not hesitating to press down hard and yank it back towards him, leaving a deep, read trail. Ness let out a panicked cry, as adrenaline took over his body, and he began to thrash even more violently, without a strategy. Now unable to use PSI with one hand, he blindly put all of his energy into the other one. He thought of a move that he could perform without positioning his fingers in a certain way. As Lighter neared his right hand, Ness grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping for the best.

" _PK Bend!_ " He shouted. To his shock and amazement, Lighter was completely thrown back by the move. Ness, now freed, scrambled to his feet as Lighter writhed a bit on the ground, under his control.

"W-what the  _hell_  are you doin'?!" Lighter cried, as he was forcibly risen to a standing up position.

"Pretty impressive for a 'Kick, isn't it?" Ness replied, dropping his hand and the attack, knowing that it would drain too much of his energy if he continued. Lighter, regaining control of his body, immediately rushed back into the fight.

Lighter slashed at Ness twice, at both his left and ride side, each of which Ness managed to escape. He just barely jumped back in time to avoid three swipes at his chest, before delivering a sharp elbow to the jaw and shoving him back, causing Lighter to loose grip of the knife, which went flying behind them, landing a good distance away. Lighter reacted by grabbing Ness by the collar and throwing a jab, which Ness blocked. However, Ness wasn't quick enough to avoid the knee to the stomach he received directly afterwards. He stumbled back a little and tried to fight back, but Lighter had already grabbed him and put him in a choke hold. As he began to squeeze and Ness began to struggle, unable to breathe, Lighter dragged him over to where the knife was in an attempt to get it back and quickly finish the job. Ness, noticing this through his slowly blurring vision, used the strength he had to sharply kick Lighter's right leg, which was enough to distract him from choking his victim. Ness quickly broke loose from his grasp, taking in as much air as he could, and diving for the knife. He grabbed it by the handle and held it close to himself, preventing Lighter from taking it. Lighter grabbed his collar again and began to drag him, but Ness didn't dare stand up or let go of the knife. He wasn't entirely sure how to use it, but he couldn't risk letting Lighter get a hold of it. He kicked Lighter's hand away, getting to his feet. Lighter seized the opportunity to get his knife back by grabbing the handle, which was pointed towards him. Ness was gripping the other side of the handle, careful not to cut his other hand on the blade. The two began to struggle, trying to pull the knife out of the other's grasp.

"Give it here!" Lighter demanded.

"Over my  _dead body!_ " Ness responded, his hands turning white.

Lighter almost replied back, but then, a hint of malice flashed in his eyes. Lucas, from afar, saw this. He took a step forward cautiously.

"Over your dead body, huh?" Lighter murmured, "Good idea."

" _No!_ " Lucas shrieked, beginning to sprint towards them.

Before Ness could figure out what was happening, Lighter stopped pulling on the knife, and instead, shoved it back towards Ness with all the strength he had, jamming the blade into Ness' chest. Ness froze, upon feeling the cold metal touch the inside of his body, making his hair stand on end. He stared down at the ground, eyes wide and blank, taking in deep breaths. Below him, he saw a thin stream of blood begin to drip onto the ground below him and spatter onto the grass. Ness felt no pain. It was as if the world had simply stopped, as he was filled with a melancholic feeling. Lucas, meanwhile, had stopped dead in his tracks, staring in horror at what had just happened. For a long while, everything was quiet.

It was when Lighter pulled the knife out, when a searing pain went through Ness' entire body, causing him to scream out of agony. He grabbed onto Lighter's shoulder for balance. He began to cough, and a larger amount of blood exited his mouth. Ness slowly turned his head to the side, looking back at Lucas, before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed onto the ground. Lucas took a step back, trembling. He shook his head slightly.

"N-no, that can't be it..." He whimpered. Lucas grit his teeth and glared up at Lighter, who stared down in satisfaction at Ness' motionless form. Lighter wiped some blood off the side of his face and gazed at Lucas, his eyes dark.

"If he was that easy to finish off..." Lighter muttered, "...Can't imagine how much of a piece of cake you'll be."

" _He was all I had!_ " Lucas shrieked, running towards Lighter and delivering a rage-fueled front kick to his chest, knocking him back. He followed this with an powerful explosion of PK Fire, sending wave after wave of flames rushing over his opponent. Lighter barely had any time to recover from the severe burning, before Lucas tackled him to the ground. He fastened his hands around Lighter's neck, gripping tightly. Lighter grabbed his wrist as he began to choke. Lucas only stared back down at him, tears streaming down his face, "What did I do to you?! What did I ever do for you to force me out of Tazmily, track me down, and _kill my friend?!_ You're  _sick_ , that's what you are!  _All of you!_  Every single one! Every..."

Lucas suddenly trailed off of his sentence. He felt the rage in his body begin to subside, as he realized what he was doing. He released his grip on Lighter's neck, still keeping him pinned down. He watched Lighter begin to breathe in and out, and the colour began to return to his face. Lucas sat there, panting, as Lighter recovered from the attack. He tried to bring himself to finish him off, but something inside his mind told him not to. Lighter glanced back up at him, seemingly terrified for his life.

" _This will only make things worse..._ " Lucas thought, " _I'm becoming what he thought I was._ "

With that, Lucas got to his feet and took a few steps back. Lighter quickly stood up and went back into a battle stance, not even daring to give in. Lucas reluctantly positioned himself into his own stance, and just like before, they began to circle each other.

"We don't have to fight, Lighter. I don't  _want_  to fight you." Lucas said, keeping his cool.

"You tried to  _kill_  me." Lighter growled, preparing to make the first strike.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry! I shouldn't have gone that far!" Lucas insisted, "I spent sixteen years growing up around you! Doesn't any of that mean anything? Try and focus on me before this whole thing happened! Remember how you always used to tell me, I'd grow up to be something great? Well, this is it! This is what I've grown up to be!"

"You've grown up to be a freak of nature, that's what you did." Lighter hissed.

"No! Lighter, trust me, when I found out I was a Psychic, I was just as disgusted as you were! I just wanted everything to go back to normal, and live as a human again! But if the past few days taught me anything, it's that Psionics are  _not_  something to be afraid of!"

"Are you kidding me? That kid over there almost blew my head off my body!" Lighter protested.

"Because you _attacked_  him! What else was he supposed to do, just  _let you_  kill him?!" Lucas cried, "Lighter, I know you! A-and you're not a bad person! You're a dedicated and hardworking man, who just wants the best for his village. You just want to protect your family, I understand! You think you're doing the right thing. But behind you, there is a village filled with thousands of Psychics who would never even think of hurting anyone! We are not a danger to you! Have I ever been someone who would hurt anybody if it wasn't justified?"

Lighter didn't answer. He calmed down a bit, but he didn't step out of his stance. He only slowly shook his head, averting eye contact.

"I know you're better than this, Lighter. This isn't the man I grew up with. The man I grew up with is kind, and caring, and always puts others before himself! He'd do anything to protect who he loves. He was the one who went outside in the middle of winter when I was eight, in nearly two feet of snow, and traveled through the forest just to find the herbs needed to heal the worst sickness I've ever had in my life, and stayed by my side all night to make sure I got better. You're a  _good person_ , Lighter. A good person who has his head in the wrong place."

"H-huh?"

"Please, just..." Lucas dropped his stance and took a pace towards Lighter, "You don't have to like me. I'll never come back to Tazmily. Hell, you can say that I died. Just let me have this. Let me start a new life, and we can forget about each other."

He held his hand out, and Lighter looked down at it. His eyes were still full of anger and the hunger to fight, but he did nothing. Lucas heart pounded as he waited for Lighter to make a decision. He wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen. Lighter's expression seemed to soften, and for a moment, Lucas felt victorious.

However, Lighter only clenched his jaw and went back into his stance, " _Nice try._ "

Not expecting it, Lucas was struck in the side by Lighter's foot, and stumbled over a little bit. He drew in a sharp breath and shot up just in time to block a slash from the knife. Unlike Ness, Lucas had the advantage of knowing Lighter's hand-to-hand style. He threw a roundhouse, which made perfect contact with Lighter's wrist. He lost grip of the knife, which Lucas managed to catch before it hit the ground. Using his limited knowledge of fighting with knives, Lucas swiped several times with the blade pointing downwards. He managed to slice Lighter's face and shoulder a few times, before Lighter kicked him again, this time hard enough to knock him over. Lucas was pinned to the ground, and he looked up to see Lighter raising the knife above him, just as Fuel had days earlier.

" _Oh, no...shit, shit, shit...!_ " Lucas thought. He struggled to get loose, but stopped when he looked up at the sky. Everything around him stopped as he observed what was above him. He got an idea.

Before Lighter could finish Lucas off, Lucas clenched his hands into fists, squeezed his eyes shut, and focused all of his energy into the sky. He made an immediate connection. Feeling a slight headache, he gently murmured a single incantation.

" _PK Starstorm._ " He whispered.

Lighter paused, confused, and realized that the world around them was growing dark. The sky above quickly faded to a star studded inky black.

"The hell?" Lighter muttered, forgetting about Lucas and falling backwards, getting to his feet. He stared up in wonder at the phenomenon, not noticing Lucas slowly raising his hands to the sky.

Wind began to pick up. The trees around them began to swerve and thrash as if caught in a storm, and Lighter found himself nearly falling from the force of the blowing air. Up above, about five stars slowly began to move. It started as barely noticeable shifting, but soon, the stars began to grow brighter, leaving trails of light and stardust as they flew. As Lucas continued to focus, he closed his eyes and murmured a Tazmilian prayer quietly. To Lighter's horror, he realized that the stars were plummeting directly towards Earth. However, he realized this all too late.

A bright flash filled the air. Lucas instantly got to his feet and sprinted to where Ness still lay, throwing himself over his friend's body and putting a hand above the two of them.

" _PSI Shield!_ " He cried. In that instant, a dome of yellow light closed over the two.

And directly afterwards, the first star struck the ground. In a matter of seconds, five explosions of brilliant light collided into the area around them, sending entire chunks of the ground flying, and filling the air with a deafening noise. As the ground shook violently, Lucas clenched his teeth and concentrated as hard as he could to keep the shield up. The shield had already begun to crack and splinter as rocks and branches pelted against it. He fastened his hand under Ness' chest and held him close as the noise slowly faded, echoing into the vast mountain range before them. As the sky above began to fade back into it's natural colour, hundreds of flocks of birds fled from the trees nearby. As the world slowly became quiet again, Lucas raised his head to look up. He gasped.

"Oh, god..." He stammered. The area around him was nearly untouched. He let the shield faded out, as he slowly sat up, looking around in pure amazement. While the ground was a bit torn up and a few trees were broken and cracked, it wasn't the catastrophic damage he had feared. He looked down at his hands. The undersides were completely caked in soot. He knew that with enough control, things like fire and ice could be detoured to avoid the environment around someone. But the stars were a whole new level of power. Lucas gave a nervous laugh. Upon observing the area, he also noticed that the ground was covered in barely noticeable specks of light; stardust was scattered everywhere. Like snowflakes, specks of glittery dust gently fell, settling on the ground and into Lucas' hair. He shook his head, sending the dust flying in different directions around him. He shakily stood up, his body exhausted from the attack. It hurt to move anything, but he knew he couldn't stay sitting there forever.

Nearby, a noise alerted him. A pile of tree branches shifted, and from out of them crawled out Lighter. Broken, but still breathing. Panting, he looked around, completely awestruck. His clothes were ripped and torn, and the side of his face was painted with blood. Lucas sighed in relief, seeing that Lighter was still alive. After a few moments of compete silence and Lighter looking at the world around him, he finally caught Lucas' eye. Lucas didn't move. He only looked back at Lighter with en expressionless face, as if to challenge him. A breeze ruffled his hair. Lighter stood up, quivering out of both pain and fright. He didn't take his gaze off of Lucas. His brow was furrowed slightly, as he was trying to comprehend everything that had happened. His mouth moved a bit, as if he were talking to himself. But for what seemed like an hour, he held eye contact with Lucas, who didn't dare take a step down by moving a single muscle in his body.

However, upon noticing a growing patch of red staining Lighter's shirt, Lucas felt the need to give in. He searched Lighter's face for any sign of aggression, before he took a silent step forward. Lighter jumped a bit, either startled by the movement, or scared of what Lucas was going to do next. Lucas only continued making his way towards him, each step hesitant and wavering. The only sound he could hear was the sound of Lighter's exhausted breathing. After a period of time that seemed too long, Lucas finally found himself standing before Lighter, mere inches away from him. Lighter seemed to look at him as if he were authority. Lucas glanced at the blood beginning to drip from Lighter's wound, and winced slightly. Still keeping eye contact to put him in his place, Lucas slowly reached into his inside jacket and closed his fingers around something soft. Lighter shifted again, believing Lucas was drawing a weapon at first. However, he was surprised to see that Lucas had not drawn a weapon, rather, he had drawn a bundle of clean bandages. Lighter looked at him, confused, before staring down at the bandages, which were slowly handed to him. After a few moments of debating whether it was some sort of trap or not, Lighter hastily grabbed the roll of bandages and pulled them close to himself to protect them. He looked back at Lucas with a stunned, still frightened face. Lucas only narrowed his eyes, remaining silent. Lighter wasn't sure why, but he backed up a few steps near the forest. Then, he backed up even more. Eventually, he found himself standing within the trees again. He stopped, thinking about the incredible phenomenon Lucas had just achieved. He bit his lip, sighed, and met Lucas' eyes once again.

Lighter gave a slow, single nod of his head. And with that, he turned back around, and began to walk back into the forest. Within seconds, he was gone. Lucas stared ahead as Lighter disappeared into the trees with his bandages. He glanced up at the sky, and prayed that hopefully, even through every danger in the forest, Lighter would survive.

A sudden, horrifying realization wracked Lucas' entire body. He snapped out of his trance and spun around, loudly gasping as he once again spotted Ness' body laying still in the grass.

" _Ness!_ " Lucas cried, sprinting to his friend and desperately tugging at him to hold him close. After a moment of struggling, Lucas finally got a steady grasp on Ness, holding him similarly to the way he had held Nana before. Ness' eyes were closed, and his mouth hung open slightly. Lucas began to struggle for air. He undid Ness' vest with his free hand and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his bloodied chest. Lucas felt nauseous, but didn't dare let him go. He pressed the side of his face to the unaffected part of his chest, listening for a heartbeat. To his relief, there was a slow, but steady rhythm pulsing gently. Tears of reassurance spilled from his eyes and down his cheeks as he grabbed a cloth out of one of the nearby bags, wetting it with PK Freeze and beginning to dab the cloth at Ness' wound. Ness' eyes scrunched up and he let out a gasp from the sudden stinging. Lucas drew back the cloth, "Oh no, Ness, I'm sorry...Listen, you're gonna be okay, yeah? It's okay. Just keep breathing, and that's all you need."

" _...Lucas..._ " Ness murmured, his voice hoarse.

"No, stop talking, it's okay. Listen, I'll fix it..." Lucas continued to deny what was happening as he treated Ness' injury.

"Lucas, stop..." Ness reached up with an unsteady hand and placed it on Lucas', guiding it away. He managed to open his eyes just a bit, "...H-he got me..."

"Don't talk like that, just stay with me!" Lucas pleaded.

"It hurts so bad..."

"I know, I know it hurts, just...keep going..."

Lucas grabbed onto Ness tighter as Ness began to squirm from the pain, letting out a small whimper. Ness began to take deep breaths, looking Lucas in the eyes the whole time.

"I don't wanna die, I can't die, not yet...! I still need to be with you, I need to watch you grow...I-I need to reach my goal..." Ness choked.

"Just let me help." Lucas replied.

"This can't be it for me, please, Lucas...I-I wanna wake up tomorrow...I want to go home...I wanna see my mom again...!" Ness was interrupted by his own coughing fit. As he coughed, blood splattered against Lucas' clothing. Ness' tears quickly turned to sobs as his vision darkened. He grabbed onto Lucas' arm as tight as he could. Blood continued to stream from his mouth and nose, as he continued, "I want to stay with you..."

Lucas looked helplessly at the jagged gash in Ness' skin. He pressed his forehead to Ness', closing his eyes, "I...I can't...I can't save you, Ness..." He admitted defeated, the tears almost too powerful for him to speak, "I'm sorry..."

Ness stared back up at him in desperation, but his eyes softened as he slowly realized what was going to happen. He drew in a trembling breath, not daring to look away from Lucas.

"I-I know." He murmured, "It's okay...I should be the one who's sorry..."

"Ness, no..."

"I...shouldn't have challenge him...I should've known my own strength..." Ness uttered, "...I'm sorry you have to hold me like this, after you had to watch Nana die..."

"Sssshh..." Lucas hushed him, rocking back and forth without realizing it, "...Don't say sorry. You know what? We'll get you to Onett, and you'll get fixed up there, yeah? C'mon, I just need to pick you up..."

"Lucas, stop, stop, there's nothing they can do..." Ness protested, squeezing Lucas' arm, "...Heh, besides...if I'm gonna die, this is what I wanna be lookin' at..."

"The mountains?" Lucas asked.

"No," Ness shook his head, and gave a weak smile, "...You."

Lucas didn't answer, as he looked back down at Ness with a stunned expression, "...W-what? Me?"

"Lucas, listen..." Ness rasped, "...There's something you should really know..."

"A-alright, of course." Lucas nodded his head.

"See, I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but things kept coming up...and then, when Nana came along, I just kept quiet. But I don't have that much time left, and I need to tell you, I  _need_  to, Lucas...I just don't know how to put it into words. I don't know how you'll react, or..." Ness trailed off. He let himself get lost in his friend's gaze. A warmth spread over his entire body. Ness found that he was no longer hurting, however, he began to cry again, "J-just...I don't want to lose this, your eyes, your face...these arms, your hands, your heart...it's all just so perfect..."

Ness gently set his hand over Lucas', which rested on his stomach. Lucas' heart began to speed up. He covered his mouth with one hand, muffling his crying.

"Listen," Ness said, whispering at this point. Lucas didn't prompt him to continue, he only nodded in response to his name. Ness managed to smile again, an he sighed happily, "Lucas, I love you."

"Ness...!" Lucas breathed, gasping quietly.

"Psychics, they always know! Always. That's because when you meet someone, heh...just by taking one look at them, you can tell what kind of person they are..." Ness explained. He intertwined his fingers with Lucas'. Lucas didn't object. Ness continued, "...And the kind of person you are? Y'know, I...I-I like that."

Lucas gave a small laugh, feeling his pulse slow down, but his heart warm up. He smiled, "Really?"

"...Yeah." Ness whispered, his eyelids half closed, "...Really..." He sheepishly turned away, almost forgetting where he was for a moment, "I didn't know if it was appropriate to bring up, after what happened with Nana...b-but I knew I wouldn't have a chance after this...I'm sorry you had to hold someone like this again today...I'm sorry you had to find out like th-"

Ness didn't get the chance to finish. In one quick movement, Lucas grabbed his collar, pulled Ness towards himself, and pressed their lips together. Ness froze where he was, as his eyes widened and a small, surprised noise came from the back of his throat. He awkwardly squirmed a little bit, but didn't pull away. Eventually letting his eyes close, he tilted his head to the side and pushed back towards Lucas. He reached up, not realizing what he was doing, and rested his hand on the back of Lucas' head, threading his fingers through his hair. Lucas' hands wandered to Ness' shirt. He grabbed hold of the fabric and pulled him closer, desperate to savour what he could. To the side, a familiar cluster of electrical sparks fizzed about, more strong than they ever had before.

Lucas was the one to pull away, parting from Ness with a gentle smacking sound. Ness didn't move at first, still caught up in what had just happened. After he realized that they had parted, his eyes slowly fluttered open, and he gazed up, starry eyed and completely dumbfounded at Lucas, who smiled and brushed Ness' hair out of his face. Ness pieced together what they had just done, and couldn't help but smile as well. The two shared an awkward laugh and touched their foreheads together again.

However, Ness' moment of joy and relief didn't last, as he found himself barely able to hold his head up. As he was dragged back into the reality of what he couldn't escape, he focused all of his sights on Lucas, who was beginning to cry again. He felt Ness' pulse, which was beginning to slow down at an alarming rate. Lucas struggled to keep up a brave face, though. He looked into Ness' violet coloured eyes, and gave him as much of a comforting gaze as he could, as he took Ness' bloodied hand again.

"Sleep tight, Ness." Lucas murmured.

Ness said nothing; he only smiled. As if given a cue, his breathing slowed down, eventually halting to a stop. Ness willingly closed his eyes. Lucas closed his eyes, unable to watch. He felt Ness' head gently fall against his chest. For the second time that day, Lucas held the now still body of someone he truly loved. Upon feeling Ness' heartbeat stop, Lucas finally broke, clinging to him for dear life, and sobbing into his shoulder. How prayed, over and over again, that he would be able to avoid losing someone else that day, but of course, Ness remained motionless. He grit his teeth in anger and frustration, before opening his eyes and looking up towards the sky. He never knew whether someone was up there or not, but he begged right now that there was.

" _Are you done, now?_ " Lucas spat, "Am I finished? Is my punishment done? You took my mom, you took my dad, you took my old life! Y-you took Nana? And...and you took  _Ness?_ "

He glared up at whoever lived up there with nothing but rage. He laid Ness on the ground in front of him. Lucas just sat there, defeated, his head hanging. He stared at the ground blankly, as he thought about how close he'd gotten. He gingerly put a finger to his mouth, knowing that just a few seconds earlier, Ness was alive, and he'd kissed him. He longed for the ability to turn back time, to find some way to save his friend. Despite his pleading, nothing changed. Lucas, accepting the harsh reality he was now in, simply fell forwards and collapsed over Ness' body, silently grieving as he buried his face in his neck. He couldn't find the ability to cry anymore. His tears had all been spent. Over and over again, Lucas tried to force himself to get up and finish his quest, to be the strong person he knew he was, but that version of Lucas wasn't here right now.

"Fuck, Ness...Onett won't be the right place for me if you're not there. You were supposed to train me...we were gonna grow up together. I was gonna watch you become the world's greatest Psychic, a-and...now I can't...I'm scared. God  _dammit_ , Ness, I kept telling myself I'd never fall for anyone else after what happened to Nana, but then you just had to show up...! Y-you had to come ruin that, didn't you?!" Lucas snapped, not moving from his position. He took a few quaking breaths, "Please, just...come back for just a few seconds, so I can tell you..."

When he went silent, he almost expected to hear Ness' voice, for he'd grown so used to it being there. When it never came, Lucas didn't say anything else. He simply stayed where he was, on the ground, crouched over Ness' body. He stayed there for what seemed like hours, although it hadn't even been a minute. He felt a slight tingling sensation in his hands, but ignored it. He barely had the motivation to stand up at this point. For now, he just wanted to stay by Ness, and never leave. Lucas was prepared to sit here until he starved to death. So, he simply stayed where he was.

Suddenly, the tingling in his hands grew stronger. Lucas flinched, caught off guard by the sensation. He half opened one eye to try and glance at his hand, hoping that he hadn't injured anything. Instead, to his utter disbelief, he was nearly blinded by a bright, magenta flash of light. Lucas clambered backwards, startled by the glow. Above, the sky had once again gone dark, and the wind from before began to pick up again. Lucas brought his hands up, and realized that they were the source of the pink glow.

"...Oh my god...!" He exclaimed, as a realized what was happening. Heart pounding, Lucas rushed back over to Ness. Hoping for the best, he pressed his hands against Ness' chest and pushed slightly, in a desperate attempt to take advantage of the second chance he'd been given. He closed his eyes and concentrated. However, he realized the light was fading. Panicking, and pushed harder, "No! No, no please, come back!" He begged.

Lucas began to put all of his energy into keeping the magic with him. He concluded that his power couldn't do this on it's own, and he'd have to perform it himself.

"O-okay, okay...here we go..." Lucas breathed, "...PK...P-PK..." Overwhelmed by a sudden dizziness, his head nodded off. He snapped back to attention, struggling to keep his attention. "Come on, Lucas. You just have to go a bit longer, you have to save him...You'll be together, you'll be able to talk to him, and listen to him, and he'll be a part of your life again...Nana would've wanted it..."

As Lucas continued to motivate himself, he felt the lightheaded feeling increase. His vision spun, but he refused to give in. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled, then in, then out, and continued. He flexed his hands as he struggled to keep his grip on the slowly fading magic. This was a human life he had in his hands. Far off, he could feel Ness' aura. It was faded, but he could feel it. Lucas cried out from the pain, barely able to take it. But knowing that he had been given another chance get him going. As his expression turned from desperation to determination, he took in another deep breath.

" _PK Love!_ " He exclaimed, his voice cracking and broken.

The decreasing magic suddenly ignited once again, and Lucas nearly started crying again from relief. He found himself once again in control. The dizziness subsided, allowing his mind to fully comprehend what was happening. Below him, he could see the familiar pink swirls of light circling his fingers and dissolving into Ness' skin. The open, bloody knife wound was somehow closing by itself, as the blood dried and the skin reattached. Lucas kept his hands where they were, a new sense of hope washing over him. He kept his gaze on Ness' face the whole time, searching for any possible sign of life coming from him. By the time the injury had fully scarred over, leaving a pink splotch where it once was, the magic began to disappear, and Lucas' entire body relaxed. He unclenched his hands, rubbing his fingers to ease the ache. The sky returned to normal for the second time, and once again, the world was quiet. Lucas took a few seconds to rest his body, panting. Every single muscle and bone felt as if they were going to fall off. He was tempted to lay down and fall asleep, but he wiped his eyes and focused on Ness.

Ness was still unmoving, and his eyes were still closed. However, Lucas noticed that the colour had returned to his skin. He grabbed Ness' hand; it no longer felt stiff and cold. Breathing heavily, Lucas once again picked him up, cradling him like a child. He continued to only look at Ness' face. However, his friend did not wake up. Lucas shook him a bit, to see if that would stir him, but nothing happened. A sinking feeling of despair hit Lucas as he positioned Ness closer to him, afraid that perhaps the spell hadn't worked. He pressed himself against his chest just as he had before, and listened for a heartbeat. Nothing.

"I-It didn't work..." Lucas whimpered, continuing to listen. He held his breath, begging to hear some sort of beat. Alas, after a few seconds of nothing happening, he heard a single pulse. Lucas gasped, and listened even closer to see if what he was hearing was true.

It started as one beat, followed by a long silence, and then another beat. Lucas uncontrollably gave a tearful smile as the rhythm picked up it's pace, and eventually, fell into a fast, but steady heartbeat. Stifling a sob of relief, he shook Ness again, desperate to wake him up.

"Ness! It's beating, your heart's beating!" Lucas cried. He observed Ness' face for a moment. He saw a single flicker of movement; his eyelids twitched. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, "You're awake! Ness, can you hear me?" Ness still didn't respond, but Lucas could tell there was life. He felt his friend's aura begin to revitalize and piece itself back together. Lucas went into his own mind, and tried a different way of contacting him, "Ness, it's me, Lucas. Can you hear me? Dākudoragon _,_ help him...Ness, listen, you need to talk to me, I need to make sure you'll survive...!"

Lucas put his hand on the side of Ness' face. It was warm. He could just barely hear Ness breathing. He continued to hold his friend close, deciding to give him time to come to. When Ness began to show more signs of life, Lucas lifted him into more of a sitting position. Finally, Ness opened his eyes. They were open just a bit, but at least they were open. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. Lucas gently rubbed his cheek with his thumb, trying to get a response. Lucas thought for a moment that perhaps something had gone wrong. Ness simply wasn't responding to anything.

"Ness..." Lucas whispered, "...Please...It's me, Lucas..."

Suddenly, Lucas noticed Ness' eyes just barely move. Lucas watched intently. Ness's gaze shifted to him, and they made eye contact. Lucas shivered; Ness looked almost expressionless. But then, Ness blinked a few times, as if being exposed to a bright light. A few seconds later, and the gleam returned to his dark eyes. His brow furrowed, as if he were in deep thought. He took a few moments to process where he was and what was happening, before his mouth slightly parted.

"...Lucas?" Ness mumbled. Lucas nodded, as his eyes began to water again. Ness frowned, "...Oh no, did you die too?"

"No, Ness." Lucas assured, shaking his head. He wiped his eyes and continued, "We're both alive."

"I'm alive?" Ness asked, "...But...I was dead. I can remember, everything went black...I died!"

"Yeah, but...y'know, I used a little magic to bring you back." Lucas explained. Ness' eyes widened, and he shifted to sit up on his own. He put a hand on Lucas' shoulder, and another hand on his forehead, checking for a fever. Upon feeling Ness fuss over him again, Lucas smiled, knowing he was the same old Ness again.

"You used  _PK Love?_  Right after using Starstorm? Jesus, you must be  _exhausted_...!" Ness breathed.

"I can barely keep my eyes open, I'm so dizzy." Lucas admitted, laughing, half out of relief, half out of drowsiness. Ness took his hand off of his forehead, but kept the other on his shoulder. He gave a lazy half-grin.

"You can sleep, if you want." Ness said.

"No, not yet." Lucas urged, sitting back on his knees, "I-I almost lost you. I want to stay."

Ness didn't protest. He simply smiled, sighed, and nodded his head. He glanced around a bit, before looking down at his own body. His eyes shot fully open upon seeing what had become of his wound. He traced a finger down the scar, laughing nervously.

"Heh...y-you brought me back to life, huh?" He murmured.

"I guess I did, yeah." Said Lucas. Ness looked back up at him with a grateful smile.

"You're  _amazing._ " He said, pulling him into a tight embrace. Lucas happily accepted, grabbing onto Ness as tightly as he could, never wanting to let go. He had started crying again at this point, and didn't put any effort into hiding it. He could feel Ness shaking as well, and knew that he was crying too. Lucas silently sent a thank you to whoever was watching over the two. Ness pulled back, rubbing Lucas' arm. His face was slightly flushed, "...I didn't have to tell you about how I felt after all, then. Aw geez, Lucas, I'm sorry...I would've waited, but..."

"It's okay, Ness. It really is." Lucas assured, "...And you know what? It was exactly what I needed to hear."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out when you kissed me. Very sensually.  _On the mouth._ " Said Ness.

"Sh-shut up! You were dying, okay? I thought I'd never get the chance to do it again! I'm just thankful you're  _alive!_ " Lucas cried, "I'm just...so confused. This morning, I was in love with a completely different person, and now she's gone...a-and then there was you, and I kept feeling your aura next to me, and I couldn't get you out of my head, and..."

"Lucas, hey, calm down. You'll have time to think about that." Ness murmured, taking Lucas' hand into his, "Give yourself some time to figure things out, okay? Look at you, you can barely keep your eyes open. It's dangerous to overuse your PSI energy, you know. You could end up loosing it."

"Okay, okay, I'll keep that in mind..." Lucas slurred. Ness was right, he felt like falling asleep right then and there. But a nudge in the back of his mind convinced him to stay awake. He looked down at their joined hands, and smiled as his face flushed, "...Tell me something. Did you actually mean what you said, before you were gone?"

Ness grinned back and shrugged, "I wouldn't have kissed back if I didn't." He said.

Lucas, stunned and flattered, didn't say anything. He wavered a little bit, nearly falling backwards, but managed to let his head fall against Ness' shoulder with a gentle thump. He wrapped his arms around his friend, sharing his warmth and reminding himself that he was alive and breathing. Lucas had never been so happy to be able to hug someone. Ness hugged him back, and this time, they didn't pull away for a while. Once again, sparks began to scatter in several directions. Lucas' eyes drifted open slightly, and he smiled upon noticing the electricity. He's guessed, at this point, that it wasn't a sickness, as Ness had claimed. Upon feeling his heartbeat begin to pick up, Lucas realized exactly what the sparks meant, but chose not to say anything. He stared ahead at the vast mountain range beyond the cliff edge over Ness' shoulder. The sun had just begun to fall behind a few mountaintops, and a warm golden glow washed over their surroundings. Lucas fought back the urge to fall asleep and breathed in the scent of pine needles. He sighed.

"What now?" He asked, not moving from where he was. The soft wind blew his choppy, tangled hair into his face, tickling his skin.

"We go home." Ness replied quietly, "We did it, Lucas. You're free."

Neither of them moved from their positions. Lucas only tightened his grip.

"Here we go. Brand new life, heh..."

"I know it's not the perfect one you've always wanted but...I'll do my best to make it exactly that, okay?"

"Ness," Lucas backed away and looked Ness in the eye, their faces mere inches apart from each other, "You being there. That's what'll make it perfect, okay?"

"Oh, shut  _up._  Can you not be  _gross_  for two seconds?" Ness teased.

"Well, pardon me, but you  _died._  I think I'm allowed to be a little sappy." Lucas replied.

"Alright, I suppose I'll allow it," Ness released Lucas and got to his knees, "Can you stand up?"

"Barely. Can you?" Lucas asked.

"Nope. Let's try it."

Grabbing hold of each others arms, the two began to struggle to get to their feet, using each other's shared support. After a few stumbles and several instances of fallen back to the ground, they eventually managed to keep themselves upright, tightly grabbing on to each other to keep balance. They wobbled a bit, but managed to stay standing. Both boys laughed, somewhat embarrassed by their odd tactics of simply standing up. They looked to the area between the two trees, then back at each other.

"That's your home, Lucas." Ness said, "Onett's right there. You ready?"

"I...I-I don't know." Lucas admitted, "Jesus, I'm sorry, of course I am. We worked so hard to get here...I'm ready. I'm gonna go in there, and start my new life."

"You can live with me for as long as you need to; I live on my own. It'd be nice to have a roommate." Ness said.

"Yeah! And you can show me how to control one of those car things!" Lucas replied.

"And I'll be your official teacher. By this time next year, there won't be anyone who can stop us! For crying out loud, I  _died_  and came back to life! You  _yanked stars_  from the sky! We're gonna make history, I tell you what! We'll break down the barriers between Psychics and humans, and make the future a better place!" Ness cried, nearly toppling over again.

"Whoa, whoooaaa, slow down! Let's just focus on getting you some medical attention." Lucas insisted, helping Ness stay upwards.

The two turned to the entrance to Onett, arms around each other's shoulders to keep each other up. Lucas took a nervous, shaky breath, holding his head up high. After everything he'd faced, and everything he'd survived, he felt unstoppable, but anxious at the same time. Ness turned to him, and noticed his unease. He gave Lucas' arm an assuring shake.

"Relax. They'll love you to bits." Ness promised, "Almost as much as I do."

" _Now_  who's being all sappy?" Lucas sneered.

"You're right, you're right, I'll save it." Ness said.

Lucas giggled and faced Onett again. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, before an expression of determination crossed his face.

"I'm ready. Let's go."

And with that, they shakily made their way towards the entrance. Lucas relived the past three days. He silently thanked Paula, and wished her luck of her journey. He thanked Claus, and Ninten, and wished them good fortune with the future of their village. He pictured Nana's face in his head; she was smiling. He felt as if she were there with him. He smiled upon remembering her.

" _I'll always love you, Nana,"_  Lucas prayed, " _...But I have someone else. I've found love again. And we'll take good care of each other. I'm sorry you can't be here with us._ " And somehow, he knew that Nana was okay.

Ness squeezed Lucas' shoulder in anticipation as they crossed through the threshold between the trees. Lucas closed his eyes, as cold air washed over him. They didn't not fall. And before Lucas would open his eyes once again to allow sunlight to stream in, and instantly be greeted by a village that instantly felt like home, he saw one more familiar face in his mind.

" _I'm here, dad. I'm safe. And I'm going to be one of the best Psychics you'll ever see,_ " Lucas pictured Flint, and the last time he'd seen him. His eyes watered.

_Dad..._

_Don't forget me._


End file.
